On Wednesday, Eddie Jones announced his 33-man squad for the upcoming Autumn Internationals against South Africa, Fiji, Argentina and Australia at Twickenham. With 10 players on the injury list, he has had to make significant changes to the squad which toured in the summer, resulting in a mixture of old and new faces.

The squad sees the return of Dave Attwood (second-row), Ben Morgan (No.8), Tom Wood (back-row) and Jonny May (wing), none of whom have played under Jones to date, while Ellis Genge (prop), Kyle Sinckler (prop), Charlie Ewels (second-row), Nathan Hughes (back-row), Alex Lozowski (fly-half) and Mike Haley (fullback) could all win their first caps.

After a brutal start to the season, both in Europe and the Premiership, England have been left counting their wounded and were not helped by the injuries sustained by players at an England training camp a few weekends ago. The injury list is now as follows: James Haskell (toe injury), Maro Itoje (hand), George Kruis (ankle), Sam Jones (leg), Mike Williams (arm), Jack Clifford (ankle), Luke Cowan-Dickie (ankle), Manu Tuilagi (groin), Anthony Watson (jaw) and Jack Nowell (quad).

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The casualties are going to have a particular effect on the selection in the second-row, back-row and on the wings. As discussed in a previous article, England are blessed in these positions in terms of strength in depth, but having to make so many changes at once has the potential to unsettle the team.

May, Marland Yarde and Semesa Rokoduguni will fight it out for the two wing berths vacated by Watson and Nowell. With May short on game-time having only just returned from injury, it is likely that Yarde and Rokoduguni will line up against South Africa. Rokoduguni is in particularly good form – as joint top try-scorer in the Premiership – and would likely have pushed Nowell for a starting place in any event. Christian Wade will no doubt feel aggrieved to have missed out again as he, too, is leading the try-scoring stats, though both Yarde and May have more international experience.

The back-row has suddenly become an area of slight concern, with Haskell, Clifford, Jones and Williams all being ruled out. Each of them at one time looked the favourite to start in the No.7 jersey. Next in line was Maro Itoje – who many expected to switch to the back-row for the South Africa test – but with him now out too, Jones has had to reconsider.

As such, the recall of Tom Wood is somewhat surprising. Though he has been solid so far this season, he has not exactly been setting the world alight at Northampton, and Jones had previously branded him “average”. Meanwhile, Guy Thompson has been making waves at Wasps and Will Fraser continues to impress for Saracens. It is the sort of conservative selection that one would associate with Stuart Lancaster much more than with Eddie Jones.

Indeed, with Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes sure to fill in for Kruis and Itoje in the second-row, the pack could take on a distinctly ‘Lancaster’ look, particularly if Wood does play. However, it would not be surprising if Jones opts for a different approach and, instead, brings Nathan Hughes straight into the starting XV at No.6, shifting Robshaw to No.7. This would give England another huge ball-carrying threat, which could be a necessity against a team as powerful as South Africa. Ben Morgan, Teimana Harrison, and Tom Wood thus look likely to battle it out for a maximum of two bench spots, as Jones is not afraid to go for a 6-2 split when playing against big forward packs.

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The main surprises of the squad announcement largely revolve around the Wasps players who have not been selected. It is most disappointing that Dan Robson has been overlooked, as Jones chose to add a third fullback to his squad in Mike Haley (Sale Sharks) rather than a third scrum-half, despite the fact that Haley will almost certainly not feature owing to the strength of both Mike Brown and Alex Goode. And, Danny Care’s lack of form is in stark contrast to that of Robson, who has had a blistering start to the season with Wasps, making his exclusion very surprising.

Equally, Danny Cipriani must be frustrated about being left out again in favour of the uncapped Alex Lozowski, as he too has started the season brightly with the Coventry-based side. Wasps prop Matt Mullan will also be surprised at his omission, given his good form and the way that he performed in the Australia series: England’s loss is undoubtedly Wasps’ gain.

Elsewhere in the front row, the absence of Northampton’s young prop Paul Hill is an unexpected omission – having been an Eddie Jones favourite to date – but the dynamism of both Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler is clearly something the England boss admires, especially with South Africa lying in wait.

Full England Squad for Autumn Internationals:

Forwards: Dave Attwood, Dan Cole, Charlie Ewels, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Teimana Harrison, Dylan Hartley, Nathan Hughes, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Joe Marler, Ben Morgan, Chris Robshaw, Kyle Sinckler, Tommy Taylor, Billy Vunipola, Mako Vunipola, Tom Wood.

Backs: Mike Brown, Danny Care, Elliot Daly, Owen Farrell, George Ford, Alex Goode, Mike Haley, Jonathon Joseph, Alex Lozowski, Jonny May, Semesa Rokoduguni, Henry Slade, Ben Te’o, Marland Yarde, Ben Youngs