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No allowances will be made for the injured Sione Tuipulotu, no nuance will be applied because Scott Cummings, Max Williamson, Andy Onyeama-Christie and Josh Bayliss are unavailable.

Josh Bayliss would almost certainly have been in the squad against Italy, but Townsend lost him to injury last Sunday.

The unheralded forward replaces Josh Bayliss, who is expected to miss the tournament after being added to the growing list of unavailable players when he injured his groin playing for Bath on Sunday.

Their interest in him grew with the injury to Bayliss, who was so impressive in the autumn Tests.

Townsend had Jack Dempsey and Jack Mann as his number eights in the squad but was limited in his other options when looking for a replacement for Bayliss.