No place for Harpenden’s Jack Singleton in England Six Nations squad

Jack Singleton training with England prior to the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Picture: ADAM DAVY/PA (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

The head coach has picked just 22 from the group who represented England in the World Cup and the Harpenden star is one of those to miss out.

Harpenden St George's old boys Owen Farrell, George Ford and Maro Itoje, as well as Welwyn Garden City-born Jamie George, do have a spot.

Coming in are eight uncapped players, including Singleton's Saracens team-mate Ben Earl, while the RFU were at pains to point out that Josh Hodge, who along with Alex Mitchell will train with the squad as an apprentice, plays his rugby with Newcastle Falcons in the Championship.

The players will assemble at Pennyhill Park on Wednesday and travel to Portugal on Thursday ahead of their first match away to France on February 2.

Jones said: "The Six Nations for us is all about raising the standards in terms of the way we prepare, tactically and physically how we play the game, and the way we come together off the field.

"But our first task is beating France in France and that is the only game we need to worry about.

"We will begin our preparations in Portugal, get a bit of sun, some warm conditions and get ourselves physically and mentally right for the game.

On his selection Jones said: "It is always about winning the next game so we have picked the best squad available. At the same time we wanted to bring some young players in because we need to keep building our depth so for those new players it is an exciting opportunity for them."

England squad for Six Nations:

Forwards

Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 21 caps)

Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 19 caps)

Tom Dunn (Exeter Chiefs, uncapped)

Ben Earl (Saracens, uncapped)

Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 12 caps)

Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 14 caps)

Jamie George (Saracens, 45 caps)

Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors, 1 cap)

Maro Itoje (Saracens, 34 caps)

George Kruis (Saracens, 41 caps)

Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 62 caps)

Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 81 caps)

Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 6 caps)

Joe Marler (Harlequins, 68 caps)

Alex Moon (Northampton Saints, uncapped)

Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 31 caps)

Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, uncapped)

Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 15 caps)

Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 58 caps)

Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs, 18 caps)

Backs

Elliot Daly (Saracens, 39 caps)

Ollie Devoto (Exeter Chiefs, 1 cap)

Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints, uncapped)

Owen Farrell (Saracens, 79 caps)

George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 65 caps)

George Furbank (Northampton Saints, uncapped)

Willi Heinz (Gloucester Rugby, 9 caps)

Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 47 caps)

Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 52 caps)

Ollie Thorley (Gloucester Rugby, uncapped)

Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 40 caps)

Jacob Umaga (Wasps, uncapped)

Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 42 caps)

Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 95 caps)

Apprentice players

Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, uncapped)

Josh Hodge (Newcastle Falcons, uncapped)