England receive World Cup semi-final boost as they expect to face New Zealand with a fully fit squad… as Jonny May and Jack Nowell are on course to recover from their injuries
- England expect to have all 31 players fit ahead of semi final with New Zealand
- Jonny May and Jack Nowell are both on course to recover from their injuries
- England’s assistant coach Neal Hatley praised Mako Vunipola ahead of semi final
- Head coach Eddie Jones will name his team to face New Zealand on Thursday
England expect to face New Zealand in Saturday’s World Cup semi-final with a fully fit squad after delivering a positive bulletin on Jonny May and Jack Nowell.
In a huge lift to Eddie Jones’s Webb Ellis Trophy hopefuls, May and Nowell are on course to recover from knocks in time for the last four showdown at International Stadium Yokohama.
May suffered a minor hamstring injury during the closing stages of the 40-16 quarter-final victory over Australia, in which he celebrated his 50th cap by running two first-half tries.
Jonny May is expected to be fit for England’s semi final after a minor hamstring injury
Jack Nowell is also expected to be fit after an ankle injury sustained against Argentina
England head coach Eddie Jones should have all 31 squad players to choose from for semi-final
Nowell made his comeback from an ankle complaint against Argentina more than two weeks ago only to damage a hamstring, forcing him to sit out the four-try demolition of the Wallabies.
“Jonny’s bouncing around this (Monday) morning. He has a small twinge and we’ll assess where he is a little bit later today,” assistant coach Neal Hatley said.
“He’s in really good spirits, moving well, and we expect Jack to be fit for selection as well. It’s fantastic where we are – all 31 being available for selection at the end of the week.”
England have also been boosted by Mako Vunipola’s return from the hamstring injury that limited him to 17 minutes of rugby since May 11 until he came on as a replacement against Argentina.
England assistant coach Neal Hatley has said it is ‘fantastic’ to have all 31 squad players fit
The Saracens prop was promoted into the starting XV against Australia and responded with a display brimming with high work rate and key interventions.
“We were unbelievably impressed by Mako. He continues to go from strength to strength,” Hatley said.
“And he needs to because Ellis Genge and Joe Marler have been ferocious in training and everyone’s putting the pressure on.
“We’ve talked before about this team of 31 and everyone’s doing their part but Mako, when he plays well like he did, is a real force.
“Without sounding massively blase about it, I wasn’t surprised at the performance he turned in, but I can understand why people outside of our group would look at it and go ‘that’s a hell of a performance’.”
England name their team to face New Zealand on Thursday morning.
Hatley praised prop Mako Vunipola and called him a ‘real force’ ahead of Saturday’s semi final