England lose Cowan-Dickie ahead of Six Nations opener against France

England have been forced into a late change of plan for Sunday’s Six Nations opener against France after Luke Cowan-Dickie departed Eddie Jones’ squad.

Exeter hooker Cowan-Dickie has left the rest of his colleagues for “family reasons”, team officials confirmed, with Saracens’ Jack Singleton called up to take his place.

England have been training in Portugal’s Algarve region ahead of their campaign.

With Cowan-Dickie set to be unavailable, Saracens’ Jamie George and uncapped Bath star Tom Dunn will contest the number two jersey, with Singleton in as cover.

George started in England’s last match, the Rugby World Cup final defeat to South Africa in November.

Squad update | @JackSingleton14 has been called into the England squad with Luke Cowan-Dickie returning home for family reasons. #GuinnessSixNations #FRAvENG pic.twitter.com/TxUvbL6Bii

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) January 29, 2020

England’s clash with Les Bleus in Paris is the final match of the first weekend of the championship, with Saturday seeing Wales play Italy and Ireland hosting Scotland.

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