Marler's replacement called up to England squad

11/03/2024 02:24 PM

NEWS: The 20-year-old Asher Opoku-Fordjour will replace veteran prop Marler who announced his retirement from international rugby on Sunday ahead of their clash against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.

The 34-year-old stalwart decided to hang up his boots after 95 caps for England and following some controversial comments he made on social regarding the haka ahead of England's defeat to New Zealand on Saturday.

This opens the door for recent World Rugby Under-20 Championship title winner Opoku-Fordjour who has been named as  Marler's replacement.

Charlie Ewels was recalled at the expense of his Bath club colleague Ted Hill. Ewels, the injured Ollie Chessum, and Tom Roebuck were omitted last Sunday when Borthwick issued his previous squad update ahead of the All Blacks week, with Hill, Alex Coles, and George Ford coming in.

England's 36-player squad:

Forwards
Fin Baxter (Harlequins)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks)
Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Theo Dan (Saracens)
Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)
Ben Earl (Saracens)
Charlie Ewels (Bath)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)
Will Stuart (Bath)
Sam Underhill (Bath)

Backs
Elliot Daly (Saracens)
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
George Ford (Sale Sharks)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints)
Ollie Lawrence (Bath)
Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
Luke Northmore (Harlequins)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Ben Spencer (Bath)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)