admin The Six Nations title quest is about to start and England’s two stars, Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade are gaining fitness while trying to catch some momentum.
In the opening quarter against France in round one Tuilagi suffered from a strain and had to sit out for the rest of the match while his team won over Scotland. Jonathan substituted him while he was injured.
Slade damaged his ankle in December and has been absent since then. He was surprisingly seen in the morning training session on Wednesday morning at England’s Surrey training base.
They both play outside the centre and are available for the Sunday’s game against Ireland at Twickenham.
The duo is retained ahead of the Sunday game in the 27-man training squad as an indication that they might play in the upcoming clash. The weekend’s Gallagher Premiership action saw 6 players leave to their respective clubs.
There are many substitutes in case any injury happens to either of them. Eddie Jones will name his team on Friday morning.
The head coach said: “Manu trained fully so should be in contention for selection. It’s good to have a quality player back. Slade also trained so we have just got to monitor his progress. He has a positive chance. He’s a quality player. This gives us more options.”
England was not in the best position in their team-composition as Olliver Devoto was already in doubt of playing because of his back issue. The return of the midfield players was a warm news midst the injuries. Against Ireland, Tuilagi will be a key player because of his ability to power over gainline. Mako Vunipola is set to miss the match because of some personal reasons and this is very lucky for England to have found Tuilagi at the right time.
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