Steve Borthwick has announced that reinforcements will bolster England's lineup for their upcoming 2024 Six Nations match in two weeks' time.
England faced a tough battle to secure victory in Saturday's match against Wales. Despite Wales holding the lead for much of the game, England managed to regain control in the final moments.
England encountered difficulties early on, conceding an early try and receiving two yellow cards in quick succession. Despite scoring a try through Ben Earl, George Ford missed the conversion due to pressure from the Welsh defense.
In the end, England secured a hard-fought 16-14 victory with George Ford successfully kicking the winning penalty.
Following the match, Steve Borthwick expressed his satisfaction that three players will rejoin the squad ahead of the upcoming clash against Scotland at Murrayfield.
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Luke Cowan-Dickie
England and British and Irish Lions hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie joined Sharks from Exeter Chiefs ahead of the 2023/24 Gallagher Premiership season. He played 165 times for the Chiefs and scored 41 tries after coming through the club’s academy.
Originally a loosehead prop, Luke made his professional debut for the Chiefs in 2011 in an Amlin Challenge Cup clash against Cavalieri Prato. A switch to hooker and a dual-registered spell at Plymouth Albion followed before he was fast-tracked into Rob Baxter’s first team.
Luke made his international debut in 2015 starred in England’s run to the 2019 World Cup final. He was selected for the 2020 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, and played in all three test matches against the world champions.
Manu Tuilagi
British and Irish Lions and England star Manu Tuilagi joined Sale Sharks from Leicester Tigers during the 2019/20 season.
The powerhouse is an England regular, and has amassed 43 caps since his international debut in 2011, including a starring role in the 2019 World Cup.
He also appeared for the British and Irish Lions during the 2013 tour to Australia.
Manu began his rugby career in the Leicester Tigers academy, following in his older brother Anitelea’s (Andy’s) footsteps. Andy also played three seasons for the Sharks between 2008 and 2011.
He made the switch to the North West on an initial one year deal but in September 2020 a serious achilles injury in just his eighth game for the Sharks ruled the Samoa-born centre out for eight months.
Manu returned from the injury in May 2021 and was named in the updated England squad for their 2021 summer tests against the USA and Canada. Unfortunately a hamstring strain meant he had to withdraw due to the injury.
On his return from injury in May 2021, Alex Sanderson told the Guardian: “Manu’s in great shape ... he looks massive. I had to stop him running because he was just running through the lads in the live tackling. It’s really exciting to see. He looked scary out there, scarily powerful.”
George Martin
Since moving to Leicester Tigers in 2016, George Martin’s rugby career has motored with international honours and silverware both secured in a short space of time.
George started playing rugby as a nine-year-old at Fairfield Preparatory School in Loughborough but admits he played more football than rugby in his early years. A keen Leicester City fan, it was his parents, dad David and mother Claudia, who always insisted he competed in as many different sports as possible.
He moved to Brooksby Melton College in 2017 to study BTEC Level 3 Sports Science and it was there that he started to believe he could make it to the top in rugby. George has rugby in his genes, with his brother Felix having played for Loughborough Grammar School and Loughborough Rugby Club. George made his senior debut for Leicester Tigers in a cup game at Worcester which kicked off the 2019/20 season.
Leicester Tigers player George Martin is tackled by Bath player Josh McNally during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Match between Leicester Tigers and Bath Rugby on the second weekend of the Return to Rugby campaign as rugby continues after COVID 19 lockdown at Welford Road on 22 Aug. Photo: Steve Bond/PPAUK/Gallagher