Head coach Eddie Jones has hinted that Kyle Sinckler may lead England this summer after revealing he’ll definitely be part of his squad.
He insisted: “All the players who have missed out, I made a point of either I have seen them or I am going to see them in the next period of time and then we will make a decision on who we use and who we don’t use.
“At this stage Sinckler we will definitely use because he wants to keep playing rugby and he will be an important guy for us so at this stage as a leader – he will definitely be on the tour, on the internal tour so to speak.
“For both of those guys, Ellis and Sincs, they are going through a maturation stage of their career. They came in as angry guys and they are now maturing into very aggressive, consistent players.
“I particularly like Sinks’ and Genge’s response to their non-selection by playing better rugby.”
Jones also described the development of Harlequins fly-half Marcus Smith as “really positive”.
Jones said: “What we are seeing from him is more like when he played at Brighton College. I remember watching him in 2015 at Brighton College and when there was something on, he took it and maybe for a period of time he was more likely to be a pattern player.
“And I think he is getting a nice balance in his game between understanding the responsibilities of getting the team organised, but then playing what is in front of him. I think his development is really positive.”
England set to face the USA and Canada at Twickenham this summer, as well as the return of an ‘A’ team to play their Scottish counterparts.
The two Tests will be at Twickenham on July 4 and 10 and the RFU expect at least 10,000 supporters to attend. England A will face Scotland A at Welford Road on June 27.
PREDICTED ENGLAND XV:
BACK-THREE:
- 15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
- 14. Ollie Thorley (Gloucester)
- 11. Siva Naulago (Bristol Bears)
CENTRES:
- 13. Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
- 12. Piers O’Conor (Bristol Bears)
