Jack Willis called-up by England for Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup
Jack Willis has played 44 Premiership games for Wasps
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England coach Eddie Jones has called up Wasps back-row Jack Willis in the squad for the upcoming final round of the Six Nations and the Autumn Nations Cup.
Apart from Willis, his club team-mate Jacob Umaga also finds a place ahead of Exeter's Joe Simmonds. Umaga will be the one of the two fly-halves present in the squad along with skipper Owen Farrell with George Ford ruled out of the weekend's clash against Italy.
Along with Umaga and Willis, Henry Slade, Joe Launchbury, Dan Robson, Jonny Hill and Harry Williams have returned to the squad following the completion of the Premiership final between Wasps and Exeter Chiefs. There is also a return for Bath wing Joe Cokanasiga, who last played for the red rose team during the World Cup.
"We have to put our best foot forward if we want to win the Six Nations," Jones said on Monday.
"We need to set the tone of the game and we want to put a smile on fans' faces, a lot of people are enduring hardships and we are grateful for the opportunity to represent England in these difficult times.
"We were obviously disappointed with the postponement of the Barbarians game but we moved to plan B, had a highly competitive training session instead of the match and now we are fully focused on the Italy game and the goal of winning the Six Nations.
"It was a tough squad to pick and I know there are a number of disappointed players that have just missed out. We've got a good balance between experience and inexperience.
"With nine players out injured, it does create some opportunities for the younger guys to show what they can do. We're very happy with what we've seen in the mini-camps and the Barbarians training week, it's been really competitive."
England are positioned second in the Six Nations table with 13 points and following the game against Italy in Rome, they will take part in the Autumn Nations Cup that kicks-off on 13th November.
England's 36-man squad:
Forwards: Tom Curry, Tom Dunn, Ben Earl, Charlie Ewels, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Jonny Hill, Ted Hill, Maro Itoje, Joe Launchbury, Lewis Ludlam, Beno Obano, David Ribbans, Jack Singleton, Kyle Sinckler, Will Stuart, Sam Underhill, Billy Vunipola, Mako Vunipola, Harry Williams, Jack Willis
Backs: Joe Cokanasiga, Owen Farrell, George Furbank, Willi Heinz, Jonathan Joseph, Ollie Lawrence, Max Malins, Joe Marchant, Jonny May, Dan Robson, Henry Slade, Ollie Thorley, Jacob Umaga, Anthony Watson, Ben Youngs
