Slade and Dombrandt left out of England squad for Rugby World Cup

LONDON (AP) — Center Henry Slade and No. 8 Alex Dombrandt were left out of England’s squad for the Rugby World Cup on Monday.

Slade has been an automatic pick in the midfield for much of the last six years, appearing in 30 of the last 37 tests since the 2019 World Cup, but has been overlooked for the 33-man squad.

Instead, he has lost out to Joe Marchant, who covers the wing as well as outside center and played his way into the squad after emerging from Saturday’s loss to Wales with his reputation enhanced.

The exclusion of Dombrandt means Billy Vunipola is the only specialist No. 8 heading to the tournament in France starting next month.

Dombrandt started every match in this year’s Six Nations but didn’t impress and had an unimpressive display in Cardiff on Saturday, too.

Vunipola was chosen despite not having played since April because of two knee operations. He missed the entire Six Nations after being left out by Borthwick because of his form.

Lewis Ludlam, Ben Earl and Tom Curry cover No. 8 and are among versatile forwards that also include rookie pair Ollie Chessum and George Martin.

Other big names to miss out are wingers Jonny May and Joe Cokanasiga, who played in the Rugby World Cup in 2019.

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