| Venue: Twickenham Stadium Date: Sunday, 25 October Kick-off: 14:00 GMT |
Uncapped Worcester centre Ollie Lawrence can provide the “power” needed at Test level, says England head coach Eddie Jones.
Lawrence, 21, is part of a 32-man squad and is in contention to make a first appearance for his country against the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday (14:00 GMT kick-off).
“He’s got a great attitude and he knows what he has to do to be a Test player,” Jones told BBC Sport.
“The opportunity could come for him.”
With Manu Tuilagi ruled out for the next six months with an Achilles problem, Jones is looking for a player in his outside backs to replace the physical void left by the Sale centre.
“[Lawrence] has got power and the game is very much about power at the moment,” added the Australian.
“We saw the influence [All Blacks winger] Caleb Clarke had on the Test match [between New Zealand and Australia] last Saturday.
“Particularly for outside backs, you need at least one of those powerful players.
“Previously we have had Manu, so Ollie has an opportunity there to show his worth.”
Exeter players set for promotion?
Jones’ latest squad does not include players from the Premiership finalists Exeter and Wasps – or Bristol, who are on standby in case Wasps are unable to fulfil Saturday’s fixture because of their Covid-19 outbreak.
Exeter are bidding to do a domestic and European double after winning the Heineken Champions Cup last weekend, with Jones adding that a number of Chiefs players will be in line for international selection when they become available.
Uncapped fly-half Joe Simmonds, 23, is among those looking to break into the England fold following his man-of-the-match performance against Racing 92.
“Whenever you have been a successful side like that, players come through. So we are looking very closely to see who we will bring into the squad,” said Jones.
“[Simmonds] is a good young player and is someone we will be considering very strongly.”
Saracens back Elliot Daly is unavailable for selection after a leg issue flared up in training at the weekend.
“We don’t have a lot of information there,” said Jones. “He has had something on his leg for a while.
“He felt it was a little bit worse on Saturday post-training and now we are just doing a full investigation of whether it is an old injury or a new injury, or a bit of both.
“He’s never had anything from it that causes him any great discomfort, so we need to find out the details of it and then we take it from there.”
