Henry Slade has been ruled out of England’s Six Nations opener against Scotland on Saturday with a hip injury.
Slade suffered the injury Exeter’s match against Castres last week and has not recovered sufficiently to be considered for selection, but hooker Jamie George is included in the squad for the Calcutta Cup clash at Twickenham.
The Saracens hooker was initially withdrawn from the group after he was concussed in the defeat to Edinburgh last week. He will continue to work through return-to-play protocols.
Wing Anthony Watson has also been recalled following injury, the Rugby Football Union confirmed in a squad update issued on Sunday.
“This is a very important week for us as we prepare for our first game against Scotland,” said England head coach Steve Borthwick, who confirmed his 36-man squad.
“We know that Scotland are an excellent side with a great coaching team led by Gregor Townsend. They’re a settled squad who have been together a long time and have dominated this fixture in recent seasons.
“They will be coming to Twickenham full of confidence. We know we have a lot of work to do. The team trained very hard last week and are ready to go again this week.”
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