England boss tweaks winning formula

Yesterday at 02:37 PM

SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: England head coach Steve Borthwick has modified his squad as they prepare for the Six Nations showdown against Italy.

Borthwick has revealed a 29-man squad that has assembled in York.

Jack van Poortvliet is the significant change in the squad after his performance during the England A match against Ireland A in Bristol on Sunday.

The Leicester Tigers back Van Poortvliet replaces Ben Spencer, who was part of the squad of 36 that gathered last week at Pennyhill Park to prepare for the round three Six Nations win over Scotland.

Spencer has returned to Bath, one of the seven Premiership clubs involved in this weekend's Premiership Rugby Cup quarterfinals along with Ealing Trailfinders, the sole Championship representative.

The Bath scrumhalf was one of eight players from last week's Borthwick Calcutta Cup squad not included in the reduced squad that assembled in York on Wednesday for the training camp ahead of the round four clash with Italy on March 9 in London.

Sale props Bevan Rodd and Asher Opoku-Fordjour were also released to Sale for club duty, but five other players will have their progress monitored separate from Borthwick's main training group.

Tom Curry, Ben Earl and Ollie Lawrence are not injured but they are all on a modified training programme and are expected to train fully next week. Tom Willis, who exited the win over Scotland early, is undergoing his graduated return to play and is expected to be available for full training next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, George Martin, who cried off the England bench last Friday with a knee injury and was replaced by Ted Hill, will undergo further tests this week and an update will be issued in due course regarding his availability.

England training squad:

Forwards:
Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Ted Hill (Bath Rugby), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby)

Backs:
Oscar Beard (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)