Mike Brown dropped by Eddie Jones for England Test against South Africa

• Full-back omitted for first time in the Jones era
• Brown has been a virtual ever-present since 2012

Eddie Jones has omitted Mike Brown, Ben Morgan and Michael Rhodes from his England squad to face South Africa on Saturday, with Courtney Lawes also ruled out through injury.

Bath’s Zach Mercer and Ben Moon of Exeter are in line to play in a Test for the first time, with the New Zealand-born back-row Brad Shields also on course for a Twickenham debut. Chris Ashton and Manu Tuilagi are poised for their first Test involvements since 2014 and 2016 respectively but there is no room for the 33-year-old Brown, who has never previously been dropped by Jones when fully fit.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2zcI3Gf