LIST | Eddie Jones five strangest England call-ups

Rugby News
Sunday, 29 November 2020 at 15:15
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England head coach Eddie Jones seems to always have a surprise up his sleeve, and these five call-ups were certainly unexpected at the time.

1. Gary Graham

The powerhouse back-rower had represented the Scotland U20s during the 2012 Six Nations Under-20s Championship and during the 2012 IRB Junior World Championship.
Initially overlooked by the senior Scotland side, Graham received a shock England call up in December 2017, for their Six Nations training squad. He was subsequently named in the English squad for the 2018 Six Nations Championship.
After not winning a cap, the flanker had a change of heart in November 2018 and was called up to the Scotland squad. He was subsequently named in the squad for the 2019 Six Nations Championship and has since won two caps.

2. Tom Wood

Nine months after Jones branded the back-rower 'distinctly average', he made a shock return to the England fold in 2016. Wood never let anybody down, but with the 2019 World Cup on the horizon it seemed strange to bring him back into the fold after initially writing him off..

3. Willi Heinz

With plenty of exciting scrum-halves in the Gallagher Premiership, it was a major shock when the 34-year-old New Zealander was selected for the 2019 World Cup ahead of the likes of Ben Spencer and Joe Simpson. To this day, fans aren't entirely sure what Jones was thinking.

4. Danny Cipriani

After being overlooked by Jones for so far, it was fantastic to see the playmaker Cipriani in 2018. The strangest thing about this call-up is that the number 10 was made to play fullback and never looked comfortable. It was if the England boss wanted Cipriani to fail

5. Mickey Young

The Newcastle Falcons scrum-half received his first and only call up to the senior England squad by coach Eddie Jones on 8 May 2016 for a three-day training squad. He was called up as a reserve for Danny Care, who was carrying a knock, but the Harlequins man recovered and Young never featured.
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