Jamie George to captain England for Six Nations with Henry Slade and Luke Cowan-Dickie recalled
Jamie George, the Saracens hooker, will be named as England captain for the upcoming Six Nations on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old will lead a squad that is expected to contain a number of uncapped players, with the Exeter Chiefs duo of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Ethan Roots in contention for their first call-ups.
Meanwhile, it is understood that both Luke Cowan-Dickie and Henry Slade have earned returns to a group of 35 that will prepare for the opening game against Italy in Rome on February 3.
Steve Borthwick, the England head coach, relied heavily on George during last year’s World Cup and will need to lean on experience again following the international retirements of Courtney Lawes, Ben Youngs, Jonny May and Mako Vunipola, as well as Owen Farrell’s decision to step away from Test duty ahead of a possible move to Racing 92.
George, who has 85 caps for England, will be among the most decorated members of the party. He also brings the experience of having occasionally skippered Saracens as well as the British and Irish Lions, the latter in a fixture against the Sharks on the tour of South Africa in 2021. In an interview with Telegraph Sport at the beginning of January, he declared himself “hugely honoured” to be regarded as a potential candidate and vowed to “embrace and really” the responsibility should it be bestowed on him.
Ellis Genge, who captained Leicester Tigers to the 2022 Premiership title under the stewardship of Borthwick, was strongly considered but his build-up has been compromised by a hamstring injury. George Ford has also needed to negotiate an issue with the medial cruciate ligament of his knee. The fly-half has required injections and did not travel to South Africa for a Champions Cup tie against the Stormers last weekend. Tom Curry, who shared the captaincy for the 2022 Six Nations with Lawes, is currently sidelined with a hip injury.
There is also scope for Borthwick to refresh his team, particularly across the back three. Feyi-Waboso, who was born in Cardiff and represented Wales at Under-18 level, was volunteered as a potential debutant earlier this month and has attended a preliminary camp. Absent from the Wales squad picked on Tuesday (see below), the 21-year-old appears to have been fast-tracked by Borthwick.
Bath will contribute a healthy contingent and Ben Spencer is likely to be rewarded for his consistency at scrum-half, with Jack van Poortvliet not quite ready to return from the ankle injury that ruled him out of the World Cup.
Sources have indicated that the inclusion of Alfie Barbeary could be dependent on the outcome of his disciplinary hearing on Wednesday. The No 8 has been cited for two separate incidents during Bath’s win over Racing 92, a game that saw him score before being sent off for a pair of yellow cards.
Slade and Cowan-Dickie were two more to miss that tournament. The former was overlooked in selection, while the latter was battling nerve damage to his neck. Since then, Slade has been a leading light in a resurgent Exeter side, while Cowan-Dickie has proved his fitness for Sale Sharks.
Northampton Saints are expected to be recognised for their Premiership-topping campaign to date. As many as 10 of Phil Dowson’s team have been in contact with Borthwick, with uncapped centre Fraser Dingwall, who also qualifies to represent Scotland, thought to have made the Six Nations squad.
Fin Smith will be included as a fly-half option while Ollie Sleightholme, another Saint, is understood to be earmarked for the England A fixture against Portugal next month.
