Barely seven days after playing his first game of rugby in nine months, Wasps captain Joe Launchbury has earned a recall to the England squad ahead of Sunday's Six Nations fixture against Italy.
Launchbury, 30, ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a Premiership clash against Bath in April 2021 and only made his return in a surprise win over Saracens on January 30.
And after playing a full hour in Wasps' more recent victory over Exeter Chiefs, the 69-cap lock has been thrown in at the deep end as England prepare to face the Azzurri at Rome's Stadio Olimpico.
