Luther Burrell
Billy Twelvetrees
Luther Burrell and Billy Twelvetrees are both in contention to face Samoa at Twickenham on Saturday, after Burrell was named in the group preparing for the third of England’s year-end Tests.
The Northampton Saints centre, who scored three tries in the 2014 Six Nations, is among 28 players recalled by Stuart Lancaster to Pennyhill Park on Monday – after recovering from a hand injury.
Bath wing Semesa Rokoduguni, missing from the 28-31 defeat to South Africa with a thigh injury, has not recovered sufficiently to retake his place in the squad and will remain at the club.
Domestic colleague Kyle Eastmond suffered concussion towards the end of the match last Saturday and will undergo the graduated return to play protocol in hope of playing against the South Sea Islanders.
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The England coach, Lancaster, said it was a welcome boost to have Burrell back as he seeks to arrest a run of five consecutive defeats.
“We have narrowed the group to give us more focus in training,” he said.
“It’s good to have Luther back in camp after recovering from his hand injury and we’ll see how he gets on in training this week.
“Roko will stay with Bath as he returns to fitness. Kyle suffered a bang to the head at the end of the game and he will be undergoing the graduated return to play protocol with us.
“As per the EPS agreement we will release players on Tuesday to prepare for the Premiership games at the weekend.”
Billy Twelvetrees, who could fill a vacancy caused by Eastmond’s absence, has an ankle problem and Lancaster could yet decide to field Farrell at inside centre against Samoa, with back-up No.10 George Ford given the chance to show what he can do as a starting flyhalf.
“It does affect your selection and it will complicate it. Farrell is an option at No.12, as well as Twelvetrees.
“We’ll see how training goes on Tuesday,” Lancaster said.
England have only 10 games between now and when they stage next year’s World Cup, leaving Lancaster with little time to make England serious contenders to lift the Webb Ellis Trophy.
Saturday’s latest loss to South Africa, which meant the Red Rose brigade had suffered their worst run of results in eight years, was especially dispiriting for England given their forwards generated so much possession, albeit they sometimes struggled at the breakdown.
But England’s longstanding problem of how to best use the ball presented to them was again in evidence, with halfbacks Danny Care and Owen Farrell struggling to impose themselves on a match where Lancaster’s men were not helped by aimless kicking and poor passing in a 31-28 defeat that, in truth, was not as close as the scoreline indicated.
But Lancaster said his side better accept the scrutiny they were under was only going to intensify between now and the World Cup.
“We’re going to have pressure on us when the World Cup comes around, irrespective of the results leading up to it,” Lancaster said Monday.
“That’s what comes with the expectation of being the home nation, so we better get used to it. And so had I.
“It hurts when you lose as England – and it should do.
“It hurts me personally because I’m responsible for the team and it hurts the players because the players care about the team.
“My sense is that we’re disappointed with ourselves, but we have to continue to believe in what we’re doing.”
Four of England’s recent defeats have come against the All Blacks, with South Africa second only to New Zealand in the world rankings.
A defiant Lancaster took some comfort from the fact England had not been “smashed” in any of those five matches.
“It’s easy to say you’ve not won any of your last five games, but the opposition has been pretty good and three of the defeats were in New Zealand,” Lancaster said.
“We’ve not been smashed by any of them. I’ve seen South Africa get beaten by 30 points in the summer, I’ve seen South Africa beat Australia by 30 points, I’ve seen New Zealand put 50 points on Australia.
“Now we’ve come up short and we’re not happy about that, but we’ve not been smashed.”
England squad:
Forwards: Joe Marler, Matt Mullan, Kieran Brookes, David Wilson, Dylan Hartley, Rob Webber, Dave Attwood, George Kruis, Courtney Lawes, Calum Clark, James Haskell, Ben Morgan, Chris Robshaw, Billy Vunipola, Tom Wood.
Backs: Danny Care, Ben Youngs, Richard Wigglesworth, Brad Barritt, Luther Burrell, Kyle Eastmond, Owen Farrell, George Ford, Billy Twelvetrees, Mike Brown, Jonny May, Anthony Watson, Marland Yarde.