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Underhill to replace injured Willis - England update 33-man squad

England call up back-row Sam Underhill as a replacement for the injured Jack Willis in their 33-man squad for Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.

Back-row Sam Underhill has been called up to England's Rugby World Cup 2023 squad after Jack Willis was ruled out because of a neck injury. Willis made one appearance at the tournament against Chile in England's 71-0 win.

Bath flanker Underhill was part of England's Rugby World Cup 2019 squad who lost to South Africa in the final. He will join Steve Borthwick's team in Lille on Sunday before as the team prepare to head to Marseille for their quarter-final next Sunday, 15 October.

Head coach Steve Borthwick, speaking when Willis was forced to go home, said: "Jack has been an important member of this team. We're really disappointed for him and disappointed that he won't feature in the rest of this World Cup, but we anticipate he will be back in the field very soon." 

Wing Jonny May and scrum-half Alex Mitchell were previously added to the original squad, replacing injury withdrawals Jack van Poortvliet and Anthony Watson.

Owen Farrell is captain of England at his third Rugby World Cup,with Ellis Genge and Courtney Lawes as his vice-captains.
 
The squad is made up of 19 forwards and 14 backs. Seventeen players have previous Rugby World Cup experience with three - Dan Cole, Lawes and Ben Youngs - playing in their fourth RWC.

(changes to original announcement appear in bold)

Forwards

Prop
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 100 caps)***
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 49 caps)*
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 79 caps)**

Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 3 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 62 caps)*
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 26 caps)

Hooker
Theo Dan (Saracens, 1 cap)
Jamie George (Saracens, 77 caps)**

Jack Walker (Harlequins, 3 caps)

Second row
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 9 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 67 caps)*
George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps)

David Ribbans (Toulon, 6 caps)

Flanker / Number 8

Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 45 caps)*
Ben Earl (Saracens, 15 caps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 97 caps)***
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 20 caps)*
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 68 caps) **

Backs

Scrum-half
Danny Care (Harlequins, 88 caps)*
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 6 caps)

Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 122 caps)***

Fly-half
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 106 caps)**

Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 22 caps)

Centre
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 11 caps)
Joe Marchant (Stade Francais, 16 caps)

Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 51 caps)**

Wing / full back

Henry Arundell (Racing 92, 7 caps)
Elliot Daly (Saracens, 57 caps)*
George Ford (Sale Sharks, 82 caps)**
Max Malins (Bristol Bears, 19 caps)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 73 caps **)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps)

*denotes number of Rugby World Cup tournaments played

Players replaced from original squad of 33: Jack van Poortvliet, Anthony Watson, Jack Willis

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