Former captain Jamie George has been added to the England squad after overcoming a hamstring injury, it was announced on Sunday.
George, 34, missed England’s defeat to Ireland in Dublin on Saturday, but will link up with the side side ahead of their clash against France at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham next week.
The return of George will be a welcome one for coach Steve Borthwick, who cited the significant number of caps Ireland had in their squad compared to England after the defeat.
“If you look at today’s game, you see two different teams,” Borthwick told a news conference on Saturday. “If you look at the game, you see an Ireland team that has been together for such a huge amount time with 1,200 caps and an England team that has been together for six months and has half that number of caps.”
George has played 97 times for England and will bring valuable experience to the front-row.
“The guys went out and if you had been watching that start of the game, you wouldn’t see that difference. It is a team that wants to play aggressively with the ball and I think we took a step forward in that attack and the defence has improved,” Borthwick said.
Further reading:
– Why each team will find Six Nations success, and why they won’t
– WATCH: Can Scotland win their first title since 1999? ESPN writers debate
– Six Nations and Women’s Six Nations: Full fixture list
– Six Nations history, past winners, more