Josh Beaumont earns place in new-look England squad

Jones named a 33-man Elite Player Squad, effectively his squad for the Six Nations championship starting next month with England visiting Scotland in their first game on Feb. 6.

Sale's Beaumont is a powerful number eight in the mould of his father, one of England's most iconic players who led them to the grand slam in 1980 and captained the British and Irish Lions the same year.

Flanker Jack Clifford, who has taken over as openside flanker at Harlequins from England's World Cup captain Chris Robshaw, is also included, as is Robshaw, who is now playing on the blindside.

Wasps centre Elliot Daly is included and has a chance to press for a team slot in the absence of injured Henry Slade, while Sam Hill, Paul Hill, Ollie Devoto and Maro Itoje are also included hoping for a first cap.

Centre Manu Tuilagi, who last played for England in June 2015 and returned to the Leicester team last week after a 15-month absence with a groin problem, was not included in the squad but will be considered after the early games of the Six Nations.

Several players who were regulars under Stuart Lancaster have been left out, including centre Luther Burrell, who was a surprise omission from the World Cup squad having been a regular in last year's Six Nations.

Fellow centre Brad Barritt, flanker Tom Wood, lock Geoff Parling, hooker Tom Youngs and number eight Ben Morgan also miss out.

There was also no place for Danny Cipriani, whose international career now looks to be over after never really getting going, or scrumhalf Richard Wigglesworth.

Gloucester's Matt Kvesic, seen by many as the answer to England's search for a ball-snaffling number seven, was also included.

There was a recall for winger Chris Ashton, who played only two tests since 2013 but has continued to score tries for Saracens, and Harlequins' Marland Yarde, with both men hoping to take advantage of the season-ending knee injury of Jonny May.

"The long-term strategy for England is to develop a side who can be the most dominant team in world rugby, so we have chosen a lot of new players on the growth we see in them," Jones said in a statement.

"We see these players growing into England players of the future and developing into a side who can be the best in the world. Our aim is to develop a squad where there is depth and competition in every position," added the Australian, who will name his captain at a later date."

Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), Jack Clifford (Harlequins), Jamie George (Saracens), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Wasps), Paul Hill (Northampton Saints), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Matt Kvesic (Gloucester Rugby) *injury replacement for Dave Ewers (Exeter Chiefs), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Matt Mullan (Wasps), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Henry Thomas (Bath Rugby) *injury replacement for Kieran Brookes (Northampton Saints), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens).

Chris Ashton (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Care (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Ollie Devoto (Bath Rugby) *injury replacement for Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Bath Rugby), Alex Goode (Saracens), Sam Hill (Exeter Chiefs) *injury replacement for Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby), Marland Yarde (Harlequins), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).

This is an exciting squad, with a nice blend of youth to go with the more established heads such as Chris Robshaw and Dylan Hartley – with the latter tipped to replace the Harlequins flanker as captain.

There are important changes as well after the World Cup debacle, with Jones bringing in a specialist No 7 in the form of Matt Kvesic. The breakdown and scavenging in rucks was a big problem against Wales and Australia who had a surplus of world-class opensides between them.

The other major problem highlighted under former coach Stuart Lancaster was the centre position, with the Cumbrian opting to go with size and bulk over guile and pace in the crunch match against Wales. In his defence, injuries in this area blighted much of his tenure and the culmination of this was the inclusion of inexperienced League convert Sam Burgess against Wales, which backfired badly.

Jones however, will not follow suit tactically it seems. With Wasps' Elliot Daly and Exeter’s Sam Hill included alongside the elegant Jonathan Joseph from Bath – at the expense of Brad Barritt and Luther Burrell – the centres certainly look to be more about pace and invention than bashing holes in the opposition defence.

That seems to be the way Jones will play – utilising a strong set-piece with Hartley, Lawes and Launchbury, or possibly Itoje, at its heart, to set a platform for quick and agile backs to attack the space created.

One thing that Lancaster did well during his reign was to pick players on form and not reputation and at first glance Jones has carried that on. England have always had the resources and strength in depth, so it will be fascinating to see how the Australian – who has a reputation for being a masterful tactician – uses them to try and win the elusive Grand Slam for England. That for him, surely has to be the aim.