Six Nations 2018: Don Armand recalled to England squad as Eddie Jones considers changes for Ireland showdown

Injuries to Nathan Hughes and Courtney Lawes have seen Jones call up the 29-year-old to his squad for the first time since the summer tour of Argentina last year

Don Armand in action for the Exeter Chiefs (Getty)

Don Armand has been recalled to the England squad for the first time since the summer tour of Argentina last year, with Eddie Jones calling up the Exeter Chiefs back-row after losing both Nathan Hughes and Courtney Lawes to injury ahead of the final Six Nations game against Ireland this Saturday.

The 29-year-old Zimbabwe-born flanker could well find himself retained in the squad that faces Ireland on Saturday in what will be a Grand Slam decider only for the Irish, with England heading into the game off the back of consecutive losses to Scotland and France and in their worst form since Jones took charge of the side.

Armand has not featured in an England squad when Jones has had all of his options open, with his only previous call-up coming last summer when the Australian was without 17 players due to the British and Irish Lions tour.

The selection of Armand could well see Jones change his tactics this week, having admitted in the wake of Saturday’s 22-16 defeat by France on Saturday that something needs to change in their approach to the breakdown and how referees marshal it.

“We just have to assess where we go with the team,” Jones said. “The game has changed and we’re not necessarily well equipped to handle it so we’ve got to find different ways of how we’re going to handle it.

“I just need to assess how things are going.”

Having made his international debut off the replacements’ bench in the First Test victory over the Pumas, Armand was dropped from the squad for the second clash between the two sides as Sam Underhill returned from injury to make his Test debut, although the Bath flanker remains absent with a ruptured tendon in his toe.

With Underhill and Billy Vunipola still unavailable, England will now also be without Hughes and Lawes, who both picked up nasty-looking injuries in the Stade de France loss at the weekend. Hughes was helped off the field midway through the first half after teammate Joe Launchbury and France fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc fell awkwardly on his left leg after being cleared out of a ruck. Lawes meanwhile finished the match, but suffered a similarly-painful injury in the build-up to England’s lone try in the 74th minute.

Both Hughes and Lawes will be monitored this week with scans planned for today, but they were left out of the 32-man squad that Jones named on Sunday evening as he tries to salvage the tournament and deny Ireland a Grand Slam triumph after wrapping up the title at the weekend.

As well as the return of Armand, his club colleague Henry Slade returns for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury in January, while Nick Isiekwe is also included and is in contention to replace Lawes as the utility player capable of covering both the second and back rows.

But there remains no space for Manu Tuilagi, with the Leicester Tigers centre left out of the squad to continue his return from his latest injury after playing eight times for his club since returning in mid-December. Given his current injury crisis in the back-row, Jones joked that the 26-year-old – who has as many England caps as he does years behind him – is big enough to deputise for Hughes, but insisted that he is not yet ready for an international return.


 Manu Tuilagi still has work to do before earning an England recall 
 (Getty)

“He’s probably big enough to play No 8, but I just don’t think he’s ready at the moment,” Jones added. “He’s off the pace and he just needs consistent rugby, but certainly he’s the sort of guy that suits the sort of rugby that’s being played at the moment. You saw the effect that [Mathieu] Bastareaud had.”

The French outside centre enjoyed his second destructive performance in as many weeks, and given the similar qualities that Tuilagi possesses to Toulon’s Bastareaud, it is slightly surprising not to see Tuilagi brought back into the wider squad so that Jones could take a look at his progress. England were not only unable to stop Bastareaud crossing the gain line, but also failed to make progress against him in possession and found themselves open to turnovers as a

result.

“Again it goes back to the quality of ball carrier,” Jones highlighted. “If you’ve got quality ball carriers, you don’t have the problems at the breakdown that we’re having at the moment, and we’ve just got to work hard to get that. The carry dictates what happens at the breakdown.”

While Tuilagi’s presence could aid that, Armand’s inclusion will definitely increase the danger England pose at the breakdown, having stood out in the Premiership during last season’s title-winning campaign and continuing that form into the current term.

England squad

Backs

Mike Brown (Harlequins)

Danny Care (Harlequins)

Elliot Daly (Wasps)

Nathan Earle (Saracens)

Owen Farrell (Saracens)

George Ford (Leicester Tigers)

Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)

Alex Lozowski (Saracens)

Jonny May (Leicester Tigers)

Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)

Marcus Smith (Harlequins) *

Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks)

Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)

Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)

Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)

Forwards

Don Armand (Exeter Chiefs)

Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)

Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)

Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)

Jamie George (Saracens)

Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)

James Haskell (Wasps)

Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs)

Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)

Maro Itoje (Saracens)

George Kruis (Saracens)

Joe Launchbury (Wasps)

Joe Marler (Harlequins)

Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)

Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)

Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)

Mako Vunipola (Saracens)

* Apprentice player