Slade and Curry return for England, but Mitchell out
Centre Henry Slade and flanker Tom Curry have recovered from injury to make England’s 36-man squad for the autumn internationals, but first-choice scrum-half Alex Mitchell is out with a neck problem.
Slade had shoulder surgery after the summer tour to New Zealand and has not played for Exeter yet this season, while Sale’s Curry made his return from a concussion lay-off in Friday’s win over Newcastle.
Mitchell’s absence means Ben Spencer, Jack van Poortvliet and Harry Randall are the three named scrum-halves.
Sale’s George Ford will continue his rehabiltation from a torn quad muscle as part of the squad, with Marcus Smith and Fin Smith the other specialist stand-offs.
Elsewhere Harlequins centre Luke Northmore replaces the injured Fraser Dingwall, with Saracens’ Alex Lozowski, hunting his first cap in six years, and Ollie Lawrence the other midfield options.
Back row Tom Willis fails to make the squad despite an impressive start to the season, but Tom Curry’s twin brother Ben is included, along with Harlequins number eight Alex Dombrandt, who is on the way back from a broken hand.
England begin their autumn campaign against New Zealand on 2 November, before matches against Australia, South Africa and Japan.
“Facing New Zealand in the opening match is a tremendous opportunity for us to test ourselves against one of the best teams in the world,” said head coach Steve Borthwick.
“Having only played at Allianz Stadium twice in our last 15 games, it will be fantastic to return and play in front of our home crowd.”
More to follow.
England’s 36-player squad:
Forwards
Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 2 caps)
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 115 caps)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 41 caps)
Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 7 caps)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 5 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 53 caps)
Theo Dan (Saracens, 14 caps)
Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 17 caps)
Ben Earl (Saracens, 33 caps)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 31 caps)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 62 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 93 caps)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 11 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 84 caps)
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 95 caps)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 15 caps)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 41 caps)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 38 caps)
Backs
Elliot Daly (Saracens, 69 caps)
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs, 6 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 11 caps)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 11 caps)
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 27 caps)
Alex Lozowski (Saracens, 5 caps)
Luke Northmore (Harlequins, 2 caps)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 7 caps)
Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks, 1 cap)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 65 caps)
Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 35 caps)
Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby, 6 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 34 caps)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 14 caps)
Rehabilitation: George Ford (Sale Sharks)
Not considered for selection: Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Will Muir (Bath Rugby), Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby), Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks).
