English rugby is on a high following a strong World Cup campaign that saw them lose out to South Africa in the final. Looking at the England squad Eddie Jones has assembled it’s not just the first XV that stands out, but England’s depth.
Robert Rees takes a look at the four impressive sides that England could field in a test match, and still look pretty handy.
First XV
The side that Eddie Jones would select if his players were all fully fit and he had to play the World Cup final again.
- Mako Vunipola
- Jamie George
- Kyle Sinckler
- Maro Itoje
- Courtney Lawes
- Tom Curry
- Sam Underhill
- Billy Vunipola
- Ben Youngs
- Owen Farrell
- Jonny May
- Manu Tuilagi
- Henry Slade
- Anthony Watson
- Elliot Daly
A hugely formidable side that could, and has taken on the best teams in the world and grabbed results.
Plenty of young guns rising up!
There are a few fringe players within this team, who have bounced between Eddie Jones’ starting XV and the England bench.
- Joe Marler
- Luke Cowan-Dickie
- Will Stuart
- Joe Launchbury
- Georgie Kruis
- Lewis Ludlam
- Ben Earl
- Nathan Hughes
- Willi Heinz
- George Ford
- Jack Nowell
- Ollie Devoto
- Jonathon Joseph
- Joe Cokanasiga
- George Furbank
Third group full of favourites
Some are capped and well established within the England setup, but others are yet to fully break on to the canvass at Twickenham. Their time will indeed come though!
- Ellis Genge
- Tom Dunn
- Dan Cole
- Charlie Ewels
- Alex Moon
- Mark Wilson
- Jack Willis
- Sam Simmonds
- Ben Spencer
- Jacob Umaga
- Ollie Thorley
- Mark Atkinson
- Joe Marchant
- Chris Ashton
- Alex Goode
Premiership select XV
A team that would be a dream Gallagher Premiership XV of any fan!
- Ben Moon
- Jack Singleton
- Harry Williams
- Elliott Stooke
- Nick Isiekwe
- Brad Shields
- Ben Curry
- Alex Dombrandt
- Dan Robson
- Marcus Smith
- Gabriel Ibitoye
- Alex Lozowski
- Fraser Dingwall
- Denny Solomona
- Simon Hammersley
Alongside these four remarkable teams there are a smattering of players who would also slot quite nicely into the England side.
- Danny Cipriani
- Joe Simmonds
- Ted Hill
- Piers O’Conor
- Danny Care
- Chris Robshaw
- Zach Mercer
- Don Armand
- Piers Francis
- Alex Mitchell
- Harry Mallinder
- Teimana Harrison
- Tom Wood
“Main photo credit”