Northampton Saints duo Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman have been added to Eddie Jones’ 36-man England squad ahead of this weekend’s clash with Japan.
The scrum-half and fullback link up with England ahead of the second round of Autumn Nations Series matches, joining fellow Saints George Furbank, David Ribbans and Sunday’s debutant Alex Coles.
England began their campaign with a 29-30 loss to Argentina at Twickenham Stadium and Jones makes three additions to his wider squad for the week, including calling up 25-year-old Mitchell and 21-year-old Freeman as they prepare to face Japan on Saturday (12 November, kick-off: 3.15pm).
England squad for Japan Test week
Forwards
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 38 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 42 caps)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 40 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 69 caps)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 6 caps)
Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks, 16 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 59 caps)
Tom Pearson (London Irish, uncapped)
David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Sean Robinson (Newcastle Falcons, uncapped)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 15 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 53 caps)
Jack Singleton (Gloucester Rugby, 3 caps)
Hugh Tizard (Saracens, uncapped)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 65 caps)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 71 caps)
Jack Willis (Wasps, 5 caps)
Backs
Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby, 13 caps)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 98 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 6 caps)
Will Joseph (London Irish, 1 cap)
Max Malins (Saracens, 14 caps)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 69 caps)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)
Cadan Murley (Harlequins, uncapped)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 43 caps)
Guy Porter (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 49 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 14 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 14 caps)
Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 47 caps)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 4 caps)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 118 caps)
Sir Clive Woodward’s fumes at England performance, singles out Ben Youngs
Youngs not good enough:
The player who faced the brunt of criticism from the former England boss is Leicester Tigers scrum-half Ben Youngs.
He was visibly slow compared to Jack van Poortvliet’s arrival. His inventive chip kick from base off ruck almost resulted in a Marcus Smith try and the ensuing scrum led to Cokanasiga’s try.
However, it’s clearer than ever to everyone that JvP or Raffi Quirke are the nines to turn to with a World Cup on the horizon.
Woodward wrote: “At every ruck, Ben Youngs was taking too long to pass the ball away. Those fractions of a second all add up. No team will win a World Cup at that pace.
“I think there are four better English scrum-halves currently than Ben Youngs, with Jack van Poortvliet at the top of the list, but the more people praise him the less likely it seems that Eddie will pick him,”
Ben Youngs facts:
- On 24 April 2007 at the age of 17 years and 231 days he became Leicester’s youngest ever player used in a league match when he came off the bench against Bristol
- Youngs has been a Premiership Rugby champion five times, winning in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013 and in 2022.
- His father Nick Youngs played scrum-half for both Leicester and England
- Youngs is married to Charlotte. They have two children, son Boris and daughter Billie
- He made his club debut at 17 in 2007 and in 2010 made his debut for England; in 2022 he became England men’s most capped player with 115 appearances
