England centre Manu Tuilagi will make his first Six Nations appearance for almost two years against Wales
(Picture: Getty Images)Manu Tuilagi has been ruled out of the England XV to face Wales in the Six Nations at Twickenham on Saturday, but Courtney Lawes returns to captain the side.
Eddie Jones’ side intitally had four changes from the win over Italy 11 days ago. In the front row, Kyle Sinckler – who wins his 50th cap – and Luke Cowan-Dickie return, while Lawes comes in at blindside and Tuilagi down to play at inside centre.
However, England confirmed on Thursday that he would now miss the crucial match with a hamstring injury.
The statement said: “England’s Manu Tuilagi is unavailable to play in this weekend’s Guinness Six Nations game against Wales due to injury.
“It was confirmed after a scan on Thursday afternoon, following training, that Tuilagi has suffered a low grade hamstring injury. Joe Marchant has been recalled and will train with the squad tomorrow at the Honda England Rugby Performance Centre at Pennyhill Park.
“The updated team will be confirmed on match day.”
Tuilagi has not played a Six Nations match for almost two years and sat out the first two matches of this campaign with a hamstring injury suffered in the autumn.
Ben Youngs remains on the bench, where he is in line to win his 115th cap, the most by an England men’s player. If he comes on, he will pass Jason Leonard’s record. Jones has preferred the zip of Randall alongside Marcus Smith at half-back from the start.
Joe Marchant drops out after the win over Italy, and will play instead for Harlequins tomorrow evening.
Lawes has been suffering from concussion, but returns at blindside and takes over the captaincy from his fellow flanker Tom Curry. Between them, Alex Dombrandt retains his place at No8.
Curry is named as one of four vice-captains, alongside Slade, Cowan-Dickie and Ellis Genge.
Sinckler is back for Will Stuart at tighthead, while Jamie George drops to the bench to accommodate Cowan-Dickie. Maro Itoje moves from blindside to lock with the return of Lawes for Nick Isiekwe, who is among the replacements.
“We’ve got a talented, young, hungry squad who have trained with real intensity this week. We’re ready to go at them and can’t wait to play in front of our supporters again,” Jones said.
“It will also be a special match with two significant milestones for Ben and Kyle, both of whom have made outstanding contributions to English rugby so far in their careers. We congratulate them and we know there is more to come ahead for them.”
