 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 39 caps) Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 43 caps) Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 41 caps) Jamie George (Saracens, 70 caps) Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks, 17 caps) Maro Itoje (Saracens, 60 caps) David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, 1 cap) Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 16 caps) Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 54 caps) Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 23 caps) Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 66 caps) Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 72 caps) Jack Willis (unattac){kind=link}
An ankle injury for Cokanasiga means Eddie Jones will look to likes of Tommy Freeman and Jack Nowell to fill the void
Joe Cokanasiga has been ruled out of England’s meeting against New Zealand after suffering an ankle injury in a 52-13 win over Japan last weekend.
The Bath wing has started both autumn internationals so far, scoring a try in the 30-29 loss to Argentina. Despite being named in the initial squad of 36 on Monday, though, he was absent from the 25-man group that was announced on Tuesday evening.
Tommy Freeman, the Northampton Saints wing who made his Test debut on the tour of Australia this summer, is in contention to feature and Jack Nowell, who pulled out of the victory over Japan because of an abdominal wall issue, could still play. Elsewhere, in the only other change to the squad that prepared to face Japan, Will Stuart has replaced Joe Heyes, with the Bath tighthead prop clearly fit again.
While acknowledging that the All Blacks have typically been heavy favourites in this fixture, England defence coach Anthony Seibold declared that New Zealand hold no fear for his charges. The teams have met just twice over the Eddie Jones era, with the All Blacks winning 16-15 at Twickenham in 2018 before England’s stirring victory in the World Cup semi-final the following year.