Henry Arundell makes cut, alongside Elliot Daly, Anthony Watson and Max Malins but there is no place for Joe Cokanasiga or Jonny May
England head coach Steve Borthwick has shown his ruthless side by axing veteran centre Henry Slade from his World Cup squad.
Slade started four successive matches in the Six Nations under Borthwick but has missed out on selection to a third World Cup with Joe Marchant promoted ahead of him after an encouraging performance in England’s 20-9 warm-up defeat to Wales. Slade, who has won 56 caps and acted as vice-captain previously, is understood to have been blindsided by the news with Borthwick deciding to make room for an extra forward in a 19-14 split.
The 30-year-old has been seen as one of the most naturally gifted English players of his generation and for a period looked set to be a building block of the midfield after combining brilliantly with Manu Tuilagi in the 32-20 defeat of Ireland in the 2019 Six Nations. Eddie Jones picked that same combination for the World Cup quarter-final victory over Australia and the then England head coach later said that he regretted not restoring Slade to the midfield for the final against South Africa.
Marchant, who is leaving Harlequins to join Stade Francais, also benefits from his positional versatility, being able to cover the wings where he ended up later in the game against Wales.