England players respond to training squad omission
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Eddie Jones' training squad announcement last week provided a number of players outside the squad the opportunity to prove a point to England head coach.
The large majority of the players excluded from the squad responded well with a strong performance during round 4 of the Premiership.
Danny Cipriani - Gloucester Rugby
We start with the most talked about exclusion from the side. Cipriani faced off against Owen Farrell this weekend as Gloucester lost 38-15 to Saracens.
Saracens were the stronger side on the day but Cipriani continued to perform for Gloucester despite being able to lead his side to victory.
Statistically, there was not much separating the two flyhalves on the day.
A look at both Owen Farrell & Danny Cipriani’s individual performances today pic.twitter.com/Pi5dODPDaU
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) September 23, 2018
Dan Cole - Leicester Tigers
The 31-year-old tighthead was another surprising exclusion from Eddie Jones' training squad.
Cole put in a solid performance against Worcester Warriors despite being on the losing side.
He played a full 80 minutes and helped his side maintain a 100% succession at scrum time and as well as claiming a tighthead.
Sam Simmonds - Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter gave an honest and interesting response when questioned about Simmonds exclusion from the England squad stating the loose forward is 30kg too light.
Simmonds made his own statement to Eddie Jones with a man of the match performance against Newcastle Falcons. Despite only playing 57 minutes, Simmonds made 10 carries, 6 tackles and scored two tries.
Dave Attwood - Bath Rugby
Attwood has been out of the England squad for a while now but he was in good form at Toulon last season and has started this season well for Bath.
He continued that form Bath his past weekend making 12 tackles and 9 carries.
Luke Cowan-Dickie - Exeter Chiefs
Cowan-Dickie featured for England in June and has been omitted from the England squad due to the return of Dylan Hartley.
The Exeter Chiefs hooker certainly put his hand up against Newcastle Falcons.
He hit double digits in the carries and tackles made departments.
Sam Underhill - Bath Rugby
Underhill had a quieter game compared to the other players on this list.
He was solid on defence making 12 tackles and one turnover but was largely ineffective on attack.
