Eddie Jones has named six uncapped players in England's training camp ahead of the Six Nations.
A group of 36 players will meet in Brighton next Monday for a five-day camp before heading to continue their preparations for the tournament at Pennyhill Park.
Orlando Bailey, Alfie Barbeary, Ollie Chessum, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Hassell-Collins and Luke Northmore have been called up for the first time.
England face Scotland in their first Six Nations match at Murrayfield on February 5.
Red Rose head coach Jones said: "Selecting this squad has been a difficult task, we've got plenty of good young players coming through and some of our more experienced are rediscovering their best form.
"We think this 36 for the first training week reflects a good balance of that experience and up-and-coming talent.
"In Brighton we’ll focus on getting the fundamentals of our game in play right and developing the cohesion of the team.
"The Six Nations is going to be the most competitive we've ever seen. All the countries performed well in the autumn, so we need to be at our best and improve with every game."
Ben Youngs is poised to become England's most-capped player during the tournament, as the scrum-half is just two appearances away from Jason Leonard's record tally of 114.
England squad:
Forwards: Alfie Barbeary, Jamie Blamire, Ollie Chessum, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tom Curry, Alex Dombrandt, Charlie Ewels, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Joe Heyes, Jonny Hill, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam, Joe Marler, Bevan Rodd, Sam Simmonds, Kyle Sinckler, Will Stuart.
Backs: Mark Atkinson, Orlando Bailey, Owen Farrell, Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Ollie Hassell-Collins, Max Malins, Joe Marchant, Jonny May, Luke Northmore, Jack Nowell, Raffi Quirke, Harry Randall, Henry Slade, Marcus Smith, Freddie Steward, Ben Youngs.
Italy-England fixture has become a classic – Mancini
Roberto Mancini believes Italy's rivalry with England has become a "classic" as they prepare to do battle in their opening Euro 2024 qualifier on Thursday.
The Azzurri won the last European Championship by beating Gareth Southgate's side on penalties in the final at Wembley in 2021.
Italy and the Three Lions then played out a goalless draw in the Nations League last June, before Giacomo Raspadori secured a 1-0 victory for Mancini's men in their last meeting three months later.
England will get another chance to gain a measure of revenge in a Group C clash at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona this week and Mancini is expecting an almighty challenge in Naples.
He said: "For me, it's become a classic. England and Italy seem to meet a lot, a bit like Italy and Germany in the past.
"For a long time now they've become a fantastic team, full of talented players, with strength and technique. It'll be a tough game just like all the others have been.
"They have more choice than us for many reasons, but in Naples we want to play a good match, play well and start these qualifiers well."
Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar last year and head coach Mancini says they are in a rebuilding process.
"Unfortunately there was the difficult interlude of the World Cup, but apart from a few games, the team has always done well," Mancini continued.
"We arrived twice in the Nations League finals [they face Spain in a semi-final in June], this means that there is value [in the team]. We have to rebuild something important because to win there must be solid foundations. There have been some good things in the Nations League."
Mancini expects his players to do Gianluca Vialli – who was Italy's head of delegation when they won the rearranged Euro 2020 two years ago – proud after he died at the age of 58 in January.
He added: "I've already talked about it with the boys, it will be important for us to remember him, as if he were here with us. He had his space and it's not easy for us, we have to try to do well for him."
Rashford and Pope withdraw from England squad as Forster earns recall
Marcus Rashford and Nick Pope have withdrawn from England's squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine after sustaining injuries.
As confirmed by Chelsea head coach Graham Potter last week, Mason Mount has also pulled out through injury.
Pope reported an injury following Newcastle United's 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest on Friday, while Rashford suffered a knock during Manchester United's 3-1 FA Cup quarter-final victory against Fulham on Sunday.
Tottenham's Fraser Forster has been called up to replace Pope, though England boss Gareth Southgate has decided not to bring in cover for Rashford or Mount.
Veteran goalkeeper Forster has been getting game-time for Tottenham since Hugo Lloris' injury in February.
The 35-year-old has played 13 times for Spurs this season, keeping five clean sheets with a save percentage of 68.8.
Losing Rashford will be a particular blow for Southgate, with the United forward in the form of his life having scored 27 goals in 44 appearances for his club this season.
England play Italy at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on March 23 before hosting Ukraine at Wembley Stadium three days later.
Mancini defends Retegui call-up and bemoans Italy's lack of attacking options
Roberto Mancini defended calling up Argentina-born forward Mateo Retegui as he bemoaned Italy's lack of attacking options.
Mancini has turned to former Argentina under-19 and under-20 international Retegui for the start of the Azzurri's Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
The Italy head coach did not expect the 23-year-old, on loan at Tigre from Boca Juniors, to accept the invitation to play for the European champions.
Eyebrows were raised when Retegui, whose grandmother was born in Italy, was named in Mancini's squad ahead of a Group C opener against England at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Thursday.
Mancini said on Monday: "We've been following him for some time, he has quality and he's a young boy. We didn't think he'd say yes, we hesitated a bit and instead he immediately said yes. The hope is that it can be important, he's a bright and young boy."
The Azzurri boss has changed his stance over calling up players who were born in a different country.
"Years ago I said that players born in Italy should play for the national team, but this problem didn't exist yet and the world has changed." he said.
"All the European national teams have players naturalised from other countries. We have had players who were taken by the national team of other nations.
"And we are doing the same thing. It is useless to talk, in Italy there are few. We are worse off than [England boss Gareth] Southgate, if there is the possibility of taking new we get players."
Mancini is concerned by the lack of options at his disposal.
He said: "In Italy nobody plays on the street anymore. We used to play three-four hours on the street and then we went to train, today this doesn't happen anymore.
"It's no coincidence that players are still born in those countries, such as Uruguay, Argentina or Brazil, where they still play a lot on the street."
Mancini added: "I have no idea why so few forwards come out. we are really very limited in the offensive department.
"We have three teams in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but out of three teams, there are seven or eight Italians at the most. This is the reality."
Mancini is waiting to discover if Federico Chiesa and Federico Dimarco will be fit to face England in Naples.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
