Eddie Jones has called on England to raise their standards after naming eight uncapped players in his 34-man squad for the Guinness Six Nations.
In total there are 22 players who featured in England’s run to the World Cup final in Japan, with Jones also turning to youth in naming eight new faces in his squad.
Bath hooker Tom Dunn, Saracens back-rower Ben Earl and Gloucester winger Ollie Thorley have all previously been involved in England squads, and they are joined by Northampton trio Fraser Dingwall, George Furbank and Alex Moon, as well as Bath prop Will Stuart and Wasps fly-half Jacob Umaga.
And ahead of a training camp in Portugal, Jones is excited to see what this new squad can produce.
Jones said: “The Guinness Six Nations for us is all about raising the standards in terms of the way we prepare, tactically and physically how we play the game, and the way we come together off the field.
“But our first task is beating France in France and that is the only game we need to worry about. We will begin our preparations in Portugal, get a bit of sun, some warm conditions and get ourselves physically and mentally right for the game.
“The first three days will be about getting organised. We have got players from 11 clubs so we need to get everyone on the same page quickly, spend a lot of time working on our togetherness and then by Tuesday next week we are in Test preparation for France.
“It is always about winning the next game so we have picked the best squad available. At the same time we wanted to bring some young players in because we need to keep building our depth so for those new players it is an exciting opportunity for them.”
The England squad, which also features a pair of apprentices, Saints scrum-half Alex Mitchell and Newcastle Falcons back three player Josh Hodge, will meet at Pennyhill Park on Wednesday before heading to Portugal the following day.
England will open their 2020 Guinness Six Nations campaign away in France on February 2.
England squad for the Guinness Six Nations
Forwards Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 21 caps) Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 19 caps) Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby, uncapped) Ben Earl (Saracens, uncapped) Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 12 caps) Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 14 caps) Jamie George (Saracens, 45 caps) Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors, 1 cap) Maro Itoje (Saracens, 34 caps) George Kruis (Saracens, 41 caps) Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 62 caps) Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 81 caps) Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 6 caps) Joe Marler (Harlequins, 68 caps) Alex Moon (Northampton Saints, uncapped) Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 31 caps) Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, uncapped) Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 15 caps) Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 58 caps) Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs, 18 caps)
Backs Elliot Daly (Saracens, 39 caps) Ollie Devoto (Exeter Chiefs, 1 cap) Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints, uncapped) Owen Farrell (Saracens, 79 caps) George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 65 caps) George Furbank (Northampton Saints, uncapped) Willi Heinz (Gloucester Rugby, 9 caps) Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 47 caps) Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 52 caps) Ollie Thorley (Gloucester Rugby, uncapped) Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 40 caps) Jacob Umaga (Wasps, uncapped) Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 42 caps) Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 95 caps)
Apprentice players Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, uncapped) Josh Hodge (Newcastle Falcons, uncapped)
