Lozowski replaces Murley for England's Six Nations clash with France

2
article-image
Feb 4, 2025Rugby Union

Saracens centre Alex Lozowski has been called up to the England squad ahead of Saturday's Six Nations game with France to replace the injured Cadan Murley. 

Murley, who scored a try on his debut in England's Six Nations defeat to Ireland in their opening game of the tournament, has been ruled out with a foot injury. 

Indeed, the 25-year-old became the first England player to make his Six Nations bow and score a try against Ireland since David Strettle did so at Croke Park back in 2007. 

Murley was also the first England back to both score and assist a try on his Championship debut since Riki Flutey against Italy 16 years ago, and will be a huge loss for England. 

Lozowski, meanwhile, returns to the side having previously made five England appearances under Eddie Jones, with his last outing coming in a defeat against Japan in 2018. 

He was finally recalled by Steve Borthwick for last year's November internationals, but did not make the 23-man squad for any of the four matches.

Murley's absence also opens the door for Ollie Sleightholme or Tom Roebuck to return on the wing, while Jamie George is also back after overcoming a hamstring injury. 

England are looking to respond from their 27-22 loss to Ireland, a result that saw Borthwick's side condemned to their seventh defeat in nine games.

They led Ireland at half-time (10-5), the first time they had been ahead after 40 minutes in a Six Nations game since Round 3 of the 2023 Championship (8-3 v Wales), ending what was their longest such streak in the Five/Six Nations (seven in a row).

But they were unable to get over the line. However, forward Ollie Chessum believes that his side can take the positives from that defeat ahead of facing France. 

"We just didn't stick to our guns really in that second half," said Chessum. "Against Ireland, in their home, they are going to do some damage.

"There are always positives to take from things. Some of the numbers from our attack are really positive - something like 11 line breaks.

"They say you don't learn when you are winning, so we have obviously taken some big learnings from the game at the weekend."

England face a stern test against a France side who thrashed Wales 43-0 in their first match of the Six Nations, with Antoine Dupont starring for Les Bleus. 

France have won each of their last three Six Nations matches against England, including their most recent meeting at the Allianz Stadium by a 43-point margin (53-10 in March 2023), their biggest ever victory against the Red Roses.

However, only once before have they won four straight games against England in the Championship (1975-1978), and Chessum acknowledged the difficulty of stopping France from securing another victory over them. 

"That is the scary thing for those watching - they have managed to put 40 points on a team when you don't really think they have reached second gear," added Chessum.

"They come to live in the opposition 30 metres, they have a big pack of forwards who can go to work at the set-piece and, the obvious one, they have Antoine Dupont and whoever is going to sit in the driving seat at 10 for them this weekend.

"We know what their threats are. Today's preparation has been about installing what we think we can do to them."