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England rugby squad for Six Nations announced with Owen Farrell controversially captaining side despite injury woes

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OWEN FARRELL will captain England in the Six Nations – despite not playing a single game for more than two months.

Farrell, 30, has been sidelined since 13 November after injuring his ankle against Australia but reclaims the armband from Courtney Lawes, who led the team in the 27-26 win over South Africa in November.

PA
Owen Farrell will lead England again at the Six Nations[/caption]
AP
Courtney Lawes has been England’s stand-in skipper[/caption]
PA
England boss Eddie Jones has put his faith in Farrell again[/caption]

Farrell is expected to play for Saracens against London Irish in the Challenge Cup on Sunday, ahead of England’s opener against Scotland on February 5.

Boss Eddie Jones said: “He has the respect of the team, he is a winner and he drives the competitive spirit of the team. He is the right man to lead the team.”

But there is no spot for Manu Tuilagi, who injured his hamstring against the Springboks and has not played since.

ENGLAND SQUAD

FOR the Six Nations

FORWARDS:
Alfie Barbeary (Wasps, uncapped)
Jamie Blamire (Newcastle Falcons, 5 caps)
Ollie Chessum, Leicester Tigers, uncapped)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 31 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 36 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 4 caps)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 26 caps)
Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 31 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 61 caps)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps)
Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 12 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 51 caps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 90 caps)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 10 caps)
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 74 caps)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 9 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 47 caps)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 15 caps)

BACKS:
Mark Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby, 1 cap)
Orlando Bailey (Bath Rugby, uncapped)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 94 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)
Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish, uncapped)
Max Malins (Saracens, 10 caps)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 7 caps)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 69 caps)
Luke Northmore (Harlequins, uncapped)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 34 caps)
Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 2 caps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 43 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 5 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 5 caps)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 112 caps)

The 36-man squad includes Wasps’ rising back row star Alfie Barbeary, Bath’s 20-year-old fly-half Orlando Bailey, Leicester flanker Ollie Chessum, Harlequins’ in-form centre Luke Northmore, and London Irish wing Ollie Hassell-Collins.

Northampton’s Tommy Freeman is the sixth uncapped player in the squad.

Jones said: “Alfie has an extraordinary ability to break tackles and we are looking forward to seeing how he can adapt to Test rugby.”

And there is a recall for Exeter wing Jack Nowell, who has not won a cap since the 2019 Rugby World Cup and is back after battling hamstring and toe injuries.

George Ford, Mako and Billy Vunipola are still in the wilderness and Bath back rower Sam Underhill is dropped after injury problems.

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England will meet up in Brighton next week for a training camp before heading to their usual Bagshot base ahead of the Calcutta Cup match.

The Red Rose were dismal in last year’s tournament, finishing fifth, but went three out of three in the autumn with wins over Tonga, Australia and South Africa.

Jones added: “Selecting this squad has been a difficult task. We’ve got plenty of good young players coming through and some of our more experienced are rediscovering their best form.”

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