• ‘We want to make sure he’s 100% … he’s 99.9%,’ says Jones
• Piers Francis called up and Nathan Hughes is available
Eddie Jones says he will not risk Manu Tuilagi’s fitness against Australia this weekend but is still hopeful the Leicester centre can transform England as an attacking force at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Tuilagi has not featured in any of this month’s Tests at Twickenham and is described by the head coach as “very doubtful” to face the Wallabies on Saturday.
The 27-year-old has been named in a 28-man squad preparing for England’s final Test of the calendar year, unlike the discarded Danny Care and Alex Lozowski, but Jones is prepared to wait until next summer if necessary to unleash a fully fit Tuilagi. “We are just being patient,” said Jones. “He could potentially be something a bit different for us and we want to make sure he’s 100% right. He’s 99.9% … it’s just that last little bit. We won’t pick him until we get that right. The World Cup starts in September, there’s still plenty of time.”
Written by Robert Kitson
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/nov/19/england-rugby-union-autumn-internationals-australia-eddie-jones under the title “England will not risk Tuilagi against Australia but drop Care and Lozowski”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
