Mike Brown dropped from England squad for first time under Eddie Jones ahead of South Africa test

Mike Brown has been left out of the England squad for this Saturday’s opening autumn international against South Africa, with the full-back-turned-wing dropped for the first time under Eddie Jones.

The 33-year-old has only missed two games since Jones took the job, having been rested from the 2016 win over Fiji and ruled out with concussion from last autumn’s win over Australia, and has been ever-present in the England set-up since the start of the Stuart Lancaster era in 2012.

Brown has played in 29 of Jones’ 31 Tests in charge and won 72 caps overall since making his debut in 2007, but found himself ousted from full-back in the Six Nations this year and found a new home in the No 11 shirt in the summer.

Despite remoulding himself on the wing by scoring a try in each of the first two Tests against the Springboks in the summer, the Harlequins back has not been retained in the 25-man squad, from which Jones will select his match-day squad on Thursday for this Saturday’s clash at Twickenham.

The decision potentially ends his 2019 Rugby World Cup hopes, with Elliot Daly very much the first-choice full-back - with Anthony Watson still to return from injury - and Jonny May, Chris Ashton and Jack Nowell all ahead in the pecking order on the wing.

Courtney Lawes has also failed in his bid to recover from a back injury in time to face the Springboks, but the lock will remain in Portugal until Thursday evening to continue his rehabilitation with the England camp in the hope of being fit for the second Quilter International against New Zealand.

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Both Michael Rhodes and Ben Morgan have also been left out, which comes as a big surprise given the lack of powerful ball-carriers due to the injuries to Mako and Billy Vunipola, Joe Launchbury and Lawes.

It means that Zach Mercer and Brad Shields are in contention to play No 8 - the former the only natural option following Morgan’s omission - while Newcastle Falcons flanker Mark Wilson is retained.

Rhodes had been tipped to make his debut against the country of his birth after being involved in the last two England training camps, but he failed to train on Tuesday morning, along with Maro Itoje, and while that was not the reason for his omission, he has still missed out on a first England cap.

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“Michael is purely selection,” said England forwards coach Steve Borthwick. “He'd have been available to train this afternoon. Maro is like every player, we monitor them closely and it is done on an individual basis.”

With Lawes ruled out, Bath duo Charlie Ewels and Elliott Stooke are retained and, should Itoje end up in the back-row, one of them faces playing alongside George Kruis in the second row. However, forwards coach Steve Borthwick suggested that their available options are more than strong enough to take on a Springboks pack that could feature the likes of Eben Etzebeth, RG Snyman and Lood de Jager.

“I think we have some very good players there, Maro, George Kruis, Charlie Ewels and Elliot Stooke trained well and are competing hard and work really well together as a pack,” Borthwick said on Tuesday. “If you want one of the great training aspects of coming to the camp here, it’s bringing the players together quickly and we’ve done that really well.”

Owen Farrell is named as co-captain alongside Dylan Hartley - who joins Jamie George as the hooker options and Exeter props Alex Hepburn, Ben Moon and Harry Williams in the front-row, along with Kyle Sinckler - while Tom Curry gets the nod at openside over Sam Underhill.

George Ford is also retained, with both Manu Tuilagi and Ben Te’o in the squad, with the power-pair competing with Henry Slade and, potentially, Farrell at centre, although Jones is expected to go with Farrell at fly-half instead.

The rest of those players released to their clubs are Worcester pair Nick Schonert and apprentice Ted Hill, Harlequins wing Nathan Earle, Saracens scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth and Bath wing Joe Cokanasiga.

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Meanwhile, Alex Lozowski will also fly back to London on Tuesday after finally having his disciplinary hearing date confirmed, following his farcical citing last week. The Saracens centre will attend a third hearing on Wednesday to answer a charge of a dangerous tackle on Glasgow Warriors’ Ruaridh Jackson in the European Champions Cup clash towards the start of the month.

Lozowski was initially banned for two weeks for dangerously entering a ruck, which was extended by a further week to ensure he missed two matches not counting the Premiership Rugby Cup. However, Lozowski successfully appealed the suspension, only to then have the dismissed charge of dangerously tackling Jackson reinstated after an EPCR appeal.