COURTNEY LAWES has been dropped from England's squad ahead of their Six Nations clash against Italy on Sunday.

Following a training session at Pennyhill Park, head coach Eddie Jones has reduced his squad from 36 to 27.

England squad for Italy clash

Here is the 27-man squad for the game against Italy:

Forwards

• Jamie Blamire
• Ollie Chessum
• Luke Cowan-Dickie
• Tom Curry
• Alex Dombrandt
• Charlie Ewels
• Ellis Genge
• Jamie George
• Joe Heyes
• Maro Itoje
• Nick Isiekwe
• Joe Marler
• Bevan Rodd
• Sam Simmonds
• Kyle Sinckler
• Will Stuart

Backs

• Elliot Daly
• George Ford
• Max Malins
• Joe Marchant
• Jack Nowell
• Adam Radwan
• Harry Randall
• Henry Slade
• Marcus Smith
• Freddie Steward
• Ben Youngs

And perhaps the biggest name to be omitted was Lawes – who captained England for their matches against South Africa and Tonga at the end of 2021.

Other players to miss out were Alfie Barbeary, Tom Pearson, Mark Atkinson, George Furbank, Louis Lynagh, Ollie Hassell-Collins, Raffi Quirke and Lewis Ludlam – who has been forced out due to a rib injury.

But, while Lawes was the biggest name casualty from the squad reduction, the most surprising was Wasps man Joe Launchbury.

The 30-year-old had been called up for the first time since his knee injury.

And he received a huge amount of praise from Jones earlier this week.

Speaking in his press conference on Tuesday, the England boss said: "Joe is a good Test lock.

Most read in Rugby Union

JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)

“He is an outstanding mauler, he is a guy that is tough around the one-pass play around the ruck and he brings a lot of experience.

"At the moment experience is not something we have got a lot of.”

England are looking to bounce back from their 20-17 defeat to Scotland last weekend.

The Roses have won all 11 previous meetings against Italy in the Six Nations.

Source: Read Full Article