RUGBY UNION: EIGHT Wasps players are in the frame to represent England at the upcoming RBS 6 Nations tournament which gets underway at the beginning of February.
Eddie Jones has announced a revised 45-man elite player squad (EPS) and named the 33 players who will attend a two-day training camp in Brighton as England begin their preparation for the popular competition.
Elliot Daly, James Haskell, Nathan Hughes, Sam Jones, Joe Launchbury, Matt Mullan, Dan Robson and Tommy Taylor have been included in the revised 45-man EPS squad.
James Haskell (Wasps) returns to the England squad after recovering from a long term injury, while Mullan also returns to the England set-up having not featured in the autumn.
The final 33-man England squad for the 6 Nations will be announced on January 20 ahead of England’s opener against France at Twickenham on February 4.
“We have France first-up who are one of the most improved sides in Europe,” said Jones. “They should have beaten Australia and could have beaten the All Blacks in November, so they’ll come into the Six Nations with a lot of confidence.
“We’ve got to make sure that we use this training camp to get an understanding of how we’re going to beat France. We want to see a good attitude from the players and, as always, we’re looking for players who are desperate to play for England.
“The thing the struck me about last year’s Six Nations is that sides were scared to lose and we want to make sure in this Six Nations, right from the word go, that we’re daring and we have the courage to play our game.”