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Eddie Jones calls uncapped George Martin into his England Six Nations squad
Eddie Jones has named his England squad replacement for the injured Jack Willis, uncapped 19-year-old Leicester forward George Martin getting called into the 28-strong squad ahead of the February 27 round three Guinness Six Nations game away to Wales.
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England flanker Willis suffered a devastating knee injury when appearing off the bench in last Saturday’s round two win over Italy, the forward getting hurt when crocodile rolled at a second-half breakdown.
That left Jones with a vacancy in his England squad that he has now filled with the unheralded Martin who has made four appearances for Leicester in this season’s Gallagher Premiership, two as a starter at blindside. It follows two other league appearances in the post-lockdown restart of the 2019/20 season.
Martin was originally named in the twelve-strong shadow squad that Jones announced on January 22 when he first picked his 28 for the Six Nations. Willis was included with Martin as one of those twelve back-ups and he got his call-up when a hip injury ruled out Sam Underhill.
Born in Nottingham and with a family home in Loughborough, Martin – who is listed as a second row by Leicester in his club website profile – came through the ranks at the Tigers academy, captaining their team in the 2018/19 season that was covered by the widely acclaimed six-part RugbyPass documentary series.
Squad update | @LeicesterTigers forward George Martin has been called up to the squad with Jack Willis ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury.
We wish @jackswillis7 all the best in his recovery ?
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 18, 2021
The RFU statement on Thursday afternoon on the England squad update read: “England have reconvened at their training base, The Lensbury, as they prepare for the next round of the Guinness Six Nations. George Martin has been called up to the 28-player squad, with Jack Willis ruled out of the tournament after suffering a knee injury in last weekend’s win over Italy.
“Eddie Jones’ side will travel to Cardiff next week where they will play Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, February 27. They will then face France at Twickenham on March 13 before travelling to Dublin to play Ireland on March 20 in their final game.”
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“There’s no reason why he can’t come back bigger and better than he is now"#SixNations #ENGvITAhttps://t.co/V9MJnnCNxe
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 17, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Wow, never thought I would read that
1 Go to commentsExcellent match. Great to see Keenan and Ryan back for Leinster. Super result for Ulster. Season is turning around.
1 Go to comments“We need eight or nine new players, who are hard-wearing and durable and experienced Premiership performers”. So why are they scouting a retired fullback who himself admits that his “body is broken”?
1 Go to commentsBrumbies hand, knocked a Crusaders hand. Therefore, knock on in goal. Crusaders, goal line drop out should’ve been awarded. most likely after that 24 each at full time, so extra time would’ve been the right an entertaining outcome. Act Jim
1 Go to commentsSpeell cehck
1 Go to commentsColeman is gaawwwwnnn.
1 Go to commentsnext SA head coach?
3 Go to commentsGreat try by van Poortvliet.
1 Go to commentsThey have been cruelled by injuries but almost nobody (Sevu Reece and Fletcher Newell big exceptions) has played above himself which regularly happened before. Surely Scott Robertson had maintained the recruitment programme and it looks like a reasonable squad. Last in this competition will stall a lot of careers. Penny seems likeable. But it’s not enough even though this was better. We haven’t been good enough and it’s not helped by the “it’s been 15 years since… “etc “after nearly every match. Seems somehow a soft gifting of something once valuable. Kieran Read giving comments last week almost choked describing the easy surrender of possession by the forwards. I’d love to think that the senior players some of whom are back can show enough pride in the jersey to test the Blues next week.
3 Go to commentsWho will Joe select for the back three with so many in form candidates? Just hope he doesn’t get shafted like Dave Rennie and to a lesser extent Deans.
6 Go to commentsAlways reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
3 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
6 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
5 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
5 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to comments