CALL-UP: Early favourite to replace injured Jack Willis revealed

Jack Willis is set to miss the rest of the Six Nations and this summer British & Irish Lions tour after suffering a serious knee injury against Italy.

Ludlam, who is currently part of Eddie Jones shadow squad, is set to beat Alex Dombrandt and Sam Simmonds to a recall.

The 25-year-old has accumulated eight caps since making his international bow in 2019 against Wales in a warm-up match before heading out to the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

His most recent international outing came against Scotland at Murrayfield in the 2020 Six Nations.

DID YOU KNOW? Originally a centre, Ludlam began his career at Ipswich before joining Colchester and attending St Joseph’s College in Northampton.

The European player of the year, who has scored 11 Premiership tries so far this season, should find his way back into Jones’ squad in the near future. He's been sensational.

A player that does provide the weight at the back of the scrum that Jones wants to see is Harlequins’ Alex Dombrandt, but the 23-year-old has not been able to convince the Australian to give him a run out despite being called up in the Autumn.

The 21-year-old Worcester skipper is clearly a player Jones has earmarked for the future, and offers a huge amount in the No6 shirt. Thus far, he has not yet been able to make the step up from being a prospect since making his debut as a teenager against Japan in 2018.

With his move to Montpellier next season confirmed, it's pretty unlikely that the back-rower will get a recall. Mercer’s display against Sale Sharks in both attack and defence showed exactly what he's made of. In attack, he made a total of 91 metres going forward from 10 carries beating two defenders in the process, while defensively he made 20 tackles to round off a strong performance for the 23-year-old.