England shadow squad: Who does Eddie Jones have in reserve?

The England shadow squad will be part of the same testing protocols as the 28-man squad.

Following their opening match, the Calcutta Cup, England will then host Italy on Saturday 13 February (2.15pm KO) before playing Wales away on Saturday 27 February (4.45pm KO).

Jones’ side will return to Twickenham to face France on Saturday 13 March (4.45pm KO) before travelling to Dublin for their final game, against Ireland, on Saturday 20 March (4.45pm KO).

England’s home matches, along with Ireland v England, are live on ITV. Wales v England is live on the BBC.

Charlie Atkinson (Wasps, uncapped): The fly half joined the Wasps academy in February 2016 and credits Andrea Masi (Wasps academy coach), Neil Hunter (school coach), Dad (Ian Atkinson) and John Connaughton (rugby league coach) for giving him a good understanding of the game. Rugby runs in the family with Dad Ian playing for Tynedale RFC, Northumberland and also having England U18 trials.

Ali Crossdale (Saracens, uncapped): Whilst at Sarries, Crossdale has been capped by England Under-20s and featured in the 2017 and 2018 World Rugby Championships. He will join Wasps ahead of the 2021/22 season.

Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby, 3 caps): An untimely broken ankle sustained in Bath’s Aviva Premiership match against Harlequins match in February 2017 has not deterred Tom Dunn from maintaining his progress right into the senior England squad. His debut during the 2020 Six Nations against Italy went viral.

David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, uncapped): Born in Somerset West in South Africa, his development saw him named Western Province’s young forward of the year in 2016 as well as being included in the Stormers Super Rugby squad that year. He went onto join Northampton Saints in 2017 and his progress at Franklin’s Gardens saw the English-qualified second row receive a first senior call-up to a training squad in October 2020.

George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 3 caps): The fullback was called up for the 2020 Guinness Six Nations where he started the first two games at full back, making is Test debut in Paris against France.

Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs, 6 caps): His on-field displays have not only helped the Chiefs to reach five successive Premiership Finals at Twickenham - two of which they have won - but they have also seen him elevated into the England senior ranks, where he made his debut during the 2018 Six Nations Championship.

Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, uncapped): A tighthead prop by trade, Jhe has had an impressive rise since coming through the Leicester Tigers academy. England honours have followed at Under 18 and Under 20 age groups, and at the 2018 and 2019 World Rugby U20 Championship he played in every round of games.

Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 54 caps): A scintillating hat-trick in the space of 18 minutes against Italy in February 2016 confirmed Jonathan Joseph’s boundless capabilities in a Test environment. He went on to start all five games in that Grand Slam campaign. He's currently out of form.

DID YOU KNOW? Marchant has a black belt in Wada Ryu Karate (2011), represented Hampshire in the discus, shot put and hammer (2010-12) and was an English Schools finalist in gymnastics in 2010

George Martin (Leicester Tigers, uncapped): The second-row was called up to the England Under-18 squad in 2017/18 and then captained the squad in 2018/19 before making his senior club debut in a cup game at Worcester which kicked off the 2019/20 season. After the resumption of the Covid-hit campaign, he made a big impression during two games in Premiership company before a knee injury ended his season. He's now back and raring to go.

Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, uncapped): The playmaker has been capped all the way through the England pathway from Under 16 to Under 20 before he made his bow at Twickenham Stadium in June 2019 for an England XV against the Barbarians.

Jacob Umaga (Wasps, uncapped): Umaga, the nephew of former All Black Tana and son of ex-Samoa star Mike, was one of eight Wasps Academy players to be promoted to the senior squad ahead of the 2019/20 season. He's since gone onto play a starring role in the team that reached the 2020 Gallagher Premiership final.

Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 8 caps): The Northampton Saints flanker had a meteoric rise into Test rugby after being called into England's Rugby World Cup training squad in 2019.He was one of four uncapped players named in the squad for Japan after making his debut in the warm-up game against Wales at Twickenham