Trio doubtful for England camp over Covid-19 concerns

Tuesday, 06 October 2020 at 13:09

bySteven Smith

England boss Eddie Jones has revealed that three further players could have to withdraw from the makeshift national squad.

Refusing to name the players under threat of withdrawing from the squad, Jones admitted England will continue to monitor the situation.

“We’re looking at three players today whether they will be available to be selected, we’ll find out this morning and then we’ll just wait and see.

“Look I think this is going to be the way it is at the moment.

“I just saw in the football England had three players unavailable this morning, they can’t go into Gareth Southgate’s camp.

“It’s a fact of life at the moment, that’s what we have to deal with, we can’t get too worried about it, we’re not too obsessed about it.

“We’ll just take the players that are available, and work with those players.”

Who are they?! Introducing England’s 12 uncapped players

Ali Crossdale

Age: 22
Club: Saracens
Position: Winger
Former clubs: Saracens, Sale Sharks
International history: He has been capped by England Under-20s and featured in the 2017 and 2018 World Rugby Championships.
Place of birth: Halifax
Did you know? He grew up supporting Sale Sharks

He made his first-team debut for Saracens against Harlequins in 2017 and grabbed a brace of tries at Allianz Park in the 2018/19 Premiership Rugby Cup as the Men in Black reached the final. The Academy graduate furthered his development in 2019 with a season in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Fraser Dingwall

Age: 21
Club: Northampton Saints
Position: Centre
Former clubs: N/a
International history: HE began his international career with Scotland, captaining the Under-16s side during the Wellington International Festival and earning a cap for the Under-18s against Wales the following year. He then switched to play for England and featured in the Under-18 International Series before earning Under-20s recognition a year later.
Place of birth: Cambridge
Did you know? Dingwall attended Bedford School where he was Head of School.

The centre enjoyed a breakthrough 2018/19 campaign, Chris Boyd’s first season at the helm, making his debut, racking up 12 senior appearances in Black, Green and Gold, and scoring four tries along the way.

Dingwall’s first Northampton try was a sensational effort against Wasps in November 2018, while he was nominated for the Premiership Rugby Cup’s Breakthrough Player award during the 2019/20 season.

Alex Mitchell

Age: 23
Club: Northampton Saints
Position: Scrum-half
Former clubs: Sale Sharks
International history: Mitchell has represented England at international level, playing at Under-16, Under-17 and Under-18 levels, before being called up to the Under-20 squad
Place of birth: Maidstone
Did you know? He played for Lymm against Tom Curry and Ben Curry in the school’s NatWest Cup

Alex Moon

Age: 24
Club: Northampton Saints
Position: Lock
Former clubs: N/a
International history: N/a
Place of birth: Ipswich
Did you know? He comes from a strong rugby family with his father, Jon, coaching Ipswich rugby club and aunt, Vickie, a former physiotherapist for Leeds Rhinos and Yorkshire Carnegie. His uncle played for the rugby league side, Bradford Bulls

Making his senior debut for Saints in 2016, Moon helped the Wanderers to lift the Premiership Rugby A League trophy in 2017 and 2018 before breaking into the first-team setup in 2018/19.

Making 18 appearances in Black, Green and Gold in Chris Boyd’s first season in charge, the towering lock made his Premiership debut against Wasps in November – and after subsequently signing his first senior contract with the Club, Moon scored his first Saints try in the European Challenge Cup quarter-final at Clermont Auvergne.

David Ribbans

Age: 25
Club: Northampton Saints
Position: Lock
Former clubs: Western Province
International history: N/a
Place of birth: South Africa

After making 18 appearances for Saints and scoring three tries during the 2017/18 season, Ribbans really kicked on in Chris Boyd’s first season in charge of Northampton and played 22 matches in all competitions – starting 19 and crossing the whitewash four times along the way.

Impressing supporters with his lineout prowess and imposing ball-carrying, Ribbans was voted the Club’s player of the month for October 2018 in a standout year for the men in Black, Green and Gold as the side won the Premiership Rugby Cup and reached the Gallagher Premiership semi-finals.

Nathan Earle

Age: 26
Club: Harlequins
Position: Wing
Former clubs: Saracens, Bedford, Old Albanians
International history: Former England U18 & 20 regular, Earle played for a young England XV against the Barbarians, scoring his first try on debut.
Place of birth: Hong Kong
Did you know? He notes former super-star Richard Hill as being particularly crucial to his time in the Saracens academy

Earle joined Harlequins for the 2018/19 season from Saracens, having just won the Aviva Premiership with the Double European Champions and scored in the final.

He was electric in his first season in the quartered shirt, scoring 11 tries in 23 appearances, including a glorious double against Gloucester Rugby at Kingsholm and a memorable match-winner against Bath Rugby at the Rec - both in the Gallagher Premiership.

Unfortunately, his campaign was cut agonisingly short by injury, though is expected to return to the side next season and make a similarly impressive impact on the field.

Alex Dombrandt

Age: 23
Club: Harlequins
Position: Back-row
Former clubs: Cardiff Met RFC
International history:
Place of birth: Surrey
Did you know? Dombrandt reduced his weight from 130kg (at university) to 120kg by the 2019-2020 season

Having excelled in his first season in elite rugby, Dombrandt received a host of accolades including being named both the adidas Supporter's Player of the Season (voted for by Harlequins supporters) and the Player's Player of the Season (voted for by the squad). He was also named in the BT Sport Team of the Year.

At the conclusion of the 2018/19 season, Dombrandt was selected alongside Marcus Smith and Joe Marchant for England's Quilter Cup match against the Barbarians at Twickenham, where he scored two tries. This performance merited his selection for Eddie Jones' World Cup training camp.

Simon Kerrod

Age: 28
Club: Harlequins
Position: Prop
Former clubs: Sharks, Jersey, Worcester Warriors
International history: South African Barbarians
Place of birth: Johannesburg
Did you know? The oldest of Eddie Jones uncapped call-ups

Kerrod moved to Harlequins from Worcester Warriors ahead of the 2019/20 season.

The Tighthead prop spend two seasons at Worcester having moved there from Jersey Reds. Previously he represented Sharks and Eastern Province Kings in South Africa.

Kerrod was born in Johannesburg and has played a South Africans Barbarian team, but is English-qualified.

Ollie Thorley

Age: 24
Club: Gloucester
Position: Winger
Former clubs: N/a
International history: England U18 & U20
Place of birth: London
Did you know? He is the cousin of Maro Itoje

The accolade of being the youngest player to appear for Gloucester since the game went professional in 1997 belongs to Ollie Thorley.He made his debut for the Cherry & Whites in 2013 as a 17-year-old, partnering World Cup winner Mike Tindall in the centre of an LV= Cup match, and has since gone on to prove himself as one of the brightest talents at Kingsholm.

A World Rugby U20 Championship winner in 2016, Thorley has pace, power and an eye for the try line. His impressive club performances saw him called up to the wider Six Nations squads for the 2019 and 2020 championships.

Lewis Ludlow

Age: 26
Club: Bedford
Position: Back-row
Former clubs: N/a
International history: England U18
Place of birth: Bedford
Did you know? Ludlow is also a Welsh-qualified player through a grandfather

In the summer of 2013, Ludlow represented England under-18 on their tour of South Africa. The hard-hitting back-rower made his breakthrough into the first team in 2013, and has developed into a key member of the squad for the Cherry and Whites.

Jack Clement

Age: 19
Club: Gloucester
Position: No.8
Former clubs: N/a
International history: England U18
Place of birth: Walsall
Did you know? He also played county cricket for Gloucestershire and originally had dreamt of a career in cricket.

The number eight also captained Cheltenham College and made his England U18 debut against France in the Aon International Series in August 2018, playing all three games of the tour in South Africa.

He says both Olly Morgan and Nick Runciman played a huge part in his early development and says going unbeaten with Cheltenham College first team in 2018 for only the third time in the school’s history is his proudest rugby moment Clement.

Joe Heyes

Age: 21
Club: Leicester Tigers
Position: Prop
Former clubs: N/a
International history: England U18 & U20
Place of birth: Nottingham
Did you know? His father was Darren was a goalkeeper for Nottingham Forest. His Grandfather was Leicester City and Swansea City Goalkeeper, George Heyes