England Squad Adds Murley for Japan Test as Feyi-Waboso Continues Recovery

The relaunched England A second-string team achieved a 38-17 victory over Australia A at Ashton Gate in Bristol during their most recent fixture. Details for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series match are as follows: England will play Japan at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, on Sunday, 24 November, with kick-off scheduled for 16:10 GMT. Coverage will be available via live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds, and live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. Harlequins wing Cadan Murley has been included in England’s 36-player squad for the forthcoming Test against Japan on Sunday. His selection follows his performance last weekend, where he scored two tries in England A’s victory over Australia. The 25-year-old, who is uncapped, joins the squad due to an injury sustained by Elliot Daly. Meanwhile, fellow wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso continues his recovery from a concussion, which he suffered during the 42-37 loss to Australia on 9 November. Flanker Tom Curry, who also sustained a concussion in the same match, has successfully completed his return-to-play protocol and has been named in the squad, replacing Charlie Ewels of Bath. Both Curry and Feyi-Waboso were unavailable for Saturday’s 29-20 defeat against South Africa. Sale prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour, who previously trained with the senior squad last week before rejoining the second-string setup and starting for England A against Australia A, has been recalled. Murley had previously been part of head coach Steve Borthwick’s training squad ahead of last year’s Rugby World Cup but did not secure a place in the final selection. He has since demonstrated strong form while on England A duty, notably scoring a hat-trick in a decisive victory against Portugal in February. England has experienced losses in all three of their autumn international fixtures to date, with defeats against New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa prolonging an undesirable run to five consecutive match losses. Conversely, England holds a perfect record against Japan, having won all five of their prior encounters. Their most recent success was a 52-17 triumph in Tokyo in June. The forwards named in the squad are: Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Ted Hill (Bath Rugby), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Martin (Leicester Tigers), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby). The backs selected are: George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Luke Northmore (Harlequins), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers).