Former captain Jamie George has returned to England’s training squad ahead of Saturday’s Six Nations clash with France.
The hooker – replaced as England skipper by Maro Itoje – suffered a hamstring injury during a match for his club Saracens which had threatened to rule him out of the Six Nations.
After losing 27-22 to Ireland in Dublin in their first match, England face another challenging assignment when Antoine Dupont’s France travel to the Allianz Stadium on February 8.
Jamie George was unable to take part in the match against Ireland in Dublin
George, who has 97 caps for his country, will be a welcome addition to the 35-player training group and will challenge Luke Cowan-Dickie and Theo Dan for a place in the matchday 23.
Cowan-Dickie started against Ireland and performed well until England fell away following a rousing opening half hour.
Dan came on in the second half as part of a bench that made little impact.
England have now lost seven successive matches against tier-one opposition.
Itoje says he did not expect the captaincy call-up for the Six Nations
England training squad ahead of France fixture
Forwards: Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Ted Hill (Bath Rugby), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Curtis Langdon (Northampton Saints), George Martin (Leicester Tigers), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby), Tom Willis (Saracens)
Backs: Oscar Beard (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
What’s next in the Six Nations?
Ireland travel to face Scotland at Murrayfield next Sunday (3pm), while England host France at Twickenham on Saturday (4.45pm) with Italy playing Wales in Rome earlier that day (2.15pm).
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