Predicting England's summer squad with several key players ruled out

Sunday, 19 June 2022 at 21:25

byRugby Rucker

We'v taken a punt at predicting England's squad for their summer tour of Australia, which will be announced by Eddie Jones tomorrow morning.

Ellis Genge and Maro Itoje will obviously add power and experience to the pack but a number of key stars are injured while others have been left out due to poor form.

Alex Dombrandt and George Ford are yet to be officially ruled out, but Jones sounded less than hopeful on their fitness in his post match interview today.

He also ruled out a potential recall for Billy Vunipola following injuries to Dombrandt and Simmonds.

Joe Marler is expected to take the summer off while Henry Slade, Kyle Sinckler and Manu Tuilagi all recover from surgeries.

It's yet to be confirmed whether England's most capped male player Ben Youngs will travel, though it appears Danny Care has not done enough either way to be included

Check out our predicted squad below:

FRONT-ROW (6):

Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Will Stuart (Bath)
Will Collier (Harlequins)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
James Walker (Harlequins)

Ellis Genge of England Rugby is tackled by Will Rowlands of Wales during the Six Nations Championship match between England and Wales at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on February 26th 2021. - PHOTO: Phil Mingo/PPAUK

SECOND-ROW (4):

Maro Itoje (Saracens)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers)
Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)

Final whistle celebrations for Maro Itoje of England Rugby after the Six Nations Championship match between England and Wales at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on February 26th 2021. - PHOTO: Phil Mingo/PPAUK

BACK-ROW (5):

Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints)
Jack Willis (Wasps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Sam Underhill (Bath RFC)
Callum Chick (Newcastle)

Tom Curry of England during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Tonga at Twickenham Stoop on 6 November 2021. Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK

HALFBACKS (4):

Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears)
Orlando Bailey (Bath)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)

CENTRES (2)Eddie Jones had bad news for Billy Vunipola in his post-match interview:

Mark Atkinson (Gloucester)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins)

Joe Marchant of Harlequins during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Semi Final Match between Saracens and Harlequins at Stone X Stadium on 11 June. Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK

BACK-THREE (5):

Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Joe Cokanasiga (Bath RFC)
Jonny May (Gloucester)
Anthony Watson (Bath)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)

Freddie Steward of England goes over for a try during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Australia at Twickenham on 13 November 2021. Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK