England Rugby World Cup squad announcement LIVE: Eddie Jones names final team for Japan 2019

Follow the latest updates live from England’s Rugby World Cup squad announcement as Eddie Jones names his final 31-man squad for Japan 2019.

The England head coach has made a number of bold decisions, including Piers Francis at the expense of the dropped Ben Te'o and naming Ruaridh McConnochie, Willi Heinz, Lewis Ludlam and Jack Singleton in the side despite the quartet having just three caps between them - all of them from the victory over Wales yesterday.

Owen Farrell is confirmed as the World Cup captain in a squad that features 17 forwards and 14 backs, with Harry Williams, Ben Spencer, Brad Shields and Danny Cipriani also omitted. Follow the live news below.

England rugby world cup squad announcement key points

• Eddie Jones names 31-man England squad
• Ben Te'o and Mike Brown left out after training ground altercation
• Piers Francis, Lewis Ludlam and Ruaridh McConnochie included

Show latest update

2019-08-12T08:27:23.116Z

Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's England Rugby World Cup squad announcement, where Eddie Jones will name his 31-man squad that will travel to Japan next month.

 

The England head coach is the first of the tier one nation coaches to name his final World Cup squad, with the deadline for teams to be submitted not until 8 September.

 

Buit Jones is keen to rid the squad of any doubts over their selection, meaning the team are off to Bristol this morning for the big unveiling - which takes place at 1pm.

 

Following that, Jones will speak to the media at 3pm to explain each decision, with the side coming fresh off the back of Sunday's warm-up victory over Wales.

 

Join us from midday where we'll begin our full build-up to the selection announcement.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 09:27

2019-08-12T10:59:03.373Z

We're all set up and ready to go in Bristol, where England are announcing their World Cup squad at Henbury School just one day after their opening warm-up match.

 

How much will that victory over Wales impact selection? Well not a great deal, if what we're hearing proves true, and we'll bring you all of the latest rumours surrounding the squad over the next hour ahead of the 1pm announcement.

 

For those wanting to hear from Eddie Jones - and trust me, we're very much in that party - we're hoping to get a few words from the England head coach at 1pm, before a full press conference that we'll bring you at 3pm.

 

So settle yourself in for a long old afternoon.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 11:59

2019-08-12T11:18:36.300Z

The Independent understands that Ben Spencer has been omitted after failing to impress Eddie Jones during England’s six-week training camp.
On the contrary, Willi Heinz has been one of the breakthrough players of the summer after displaying strong leadership skills and finding his feet immediately on his Test debut on Sunday in the win over Wales.
Heinz has impressed Jones so much that he was named vice-captain for the 33-19 victory at Twickenham, despite the 32-year-old having not played internationally before the opening Rugby World Cup warm-up.
It means that Jones will take just two No 9s to Japan, with natural fly-half George Ford set to provide emergency cover if needed, and will require both Youngs and Heinz to be involved in all seven matches if England were to go all the way to World Cup final.
It’s also understood that fly-half Danny Cipriani has been left out, with the 31-year-old yet to return to Gloucester for pre-season training after being cut from the England squad before their 12-day heat camp in Treviso last month.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 12:18

2019-08-12T11:55:34.323Z

The squad is in, and we have one of the most surprising squad selections seen under Eddie Jones' reign.

 

Get ready for this...

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 12:55

2019-08-12T12:00:48.363Z

England Rugby World Cup squad:

Forwards

Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 86 caps) **

Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 12 caps)

Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 11 caps)

Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 10 caps)

Jamie George (Saracens, 37 caps) *

Maro Itoje (Saracens, 27 caps)

George Kruis (Saracens, 32 caps) *

Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 59 caps) *

Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 72 caps) **

Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)

Joe Marler (Harlequins, 58 caps) *

Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 22 caps)

Jack Singleton (Saracens, 1 cap)

Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 9 caps)

Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 42 caps) *

Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 53 caps) *

Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons / Sale Sharks, 13 caps)

Backs

Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby, 5 caps)

Elliot Daly (Saracens, 31 caps)

Owen Farrell (Saracens, 70 caps) *

George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 56 caps) *

Piers Francis (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)

Willi Heinz (Gloucester Rugby, 1 cap)

Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 41 caps) *

Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 45 caps) *

Ruaridh McConnochie (Bath Rugby, uncapped)

Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 33 caps) *

Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 22 caps) *

Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 33 caps) *

Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 34 caps) *

Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 86 caps) **

 

* denotes World Cup tournaments played

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 13:00

2019-08-12T12:03:04.186Z

Ben Te'o left out of England World Cup squad as Eddie Jones makes surprise selection

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 13:03

2019-08-12T12:14:51.390Z

This is quite astonishing from the England head coach.

 

He will be taking three players with one international cap each to Japan, and a fourth player with no caps whatsoever in 15-a-side rugby.

 

Having featured heavily in recent years, Ben Te'o, Harry Williams and Brad Shields are dumped at the final hurdle, coming as a huge shock given what the players that have replaced them.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 13:14

2019-08-12T12:17:06.826Z

As promised, we have our words from Eddie Jones ahead of his press conference appearance at 3pm.

“Today is another step in the progress towards the Rugby World Cup," said Jones. "We have taken the decision to go early because of what we learned from previous campaigns. We want the squad to know early and now we can get on and be the best prepared England side there has ever been, ready to win the World Cup.”
 
On the players not selected Jones added: “A lot of good players have missed out, we feel for them, I feel for them personally. But as we know the World Cup is an incredible tournament where opportunities can present themselves and all those players who have missed out have been told they have to be ready.”

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 13:17

2019-08-12T12:37:24.740Z

What's the verdict on the team?

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 13:37

2019-08-12T13:44:05.443Z

Right, after all the excitement and digesting of the squad announcement, we're 15 minutes away from speaking to Jones himself.

 

Needless to say, we're expecting an entertaining afternoon.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 14:44

2019-08-12T13:59:47.670Z

Jones has arrived along with assistant coaches Steve Bortwick, John Mitchell, Scott Wisemantel and Neil Hatley, so for ease on who says what, we'll abbreviate their initials at the start of each update.

 

They should be walking into the press conference any second now...

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 14:59

2019-08-12T14:03:29.516Z

We have a slight delay on our hands - because the team bus is stuck.

 

The entrance to the school proved too tight for the England team bus, forcing the driver to reverse back out and the press conference to get off to a typical start.

 

All 31 players, instead of walking off to a hero's welcome from the 53 school kids in attendance to greet them, have instead been forced to get off up the road and walk down to the school gates.

 

Let's hope it's not a sign of things to come for England.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 15:03

2019-08-12T14:05:20.270Z

And here they are. Let's get underway.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 15:05

2019-08-12T14:06:16.753Z

When was the final name inked:

EJ: Not too many glasses of red wine. We finslised it last night, the coaches left the ground a little bit earlier and we had a meeting where we finalised the last poisitions.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 15:06

2019-08-12T14:06:50.480Z

EJ: We're really excited for the players selected. For those that aren't, we've told them that they need to be ready because you never know when injury will hit.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 15:06

2019-08-12T14:07:38.450Z

Reactions:

EJ: We never tell the players they're in, we only tell them they're out. We told players in the camp this morning, and the ones who weren't we told them by phone messages or phone calls.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 15:07

2019-08-12T14:07:54.623Z

Who's smiling the most:

EJ: Errrrr, I'm not sure. I think they all are!

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 15:07

2019-08-12T14:09:04.500Z

Squad bolters:

EJ: We've been watching Ruaridh for a while, he's come into camp and impressed and he's really mature, can play a few positions and that proved an easy decisions. With Lewis, we wanted to bring him in to the camp and he just got better and better, and then we saw how good he can be yesterday and that's just the start of his career.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 15:09

2019-08-12T14:09:36.416Z

Brad Shield omission:

EJ: We're not going to go into reasons for players left out out of respect. But Brad was unlucky.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 15:09

2019-08-12T14:10:29.713Z

Ben Te'o due to the 'atlercation' or form?

EJ: Again we're not going to explain those reasons here. We've explained them to Ben, and he might not accept them, but those are the reasons. We respect the job you've got to do bu that doesn't mean we're going to disrespect the players.

• Jack de Menezes
• 12 August 2019 15:10

12

Next

What time does it start?

The England squad announcement will be made at 1pm.

When will Eddie Jones speak?

The England head coach will face the media at 3pm to explain his selection decisions.