Eddie Jones has named his squad for the November internationals against South Africa, Fiji, Argentina and Australia.
There were some unexpected names in the 33-man squad named by the coach on Wednesday, but the inclusion of Tom Wood will surely grab most of the headlines.
Jones was somewhat forced to make the move to include Wood as a result of the long list of injuries he has at openside, as James Haskell, Jack Clifford, Sam Jones, Mike Williams and Maro Itoje were all ruled out in advance of the upcoming Old Mutual Wealth Series.
The move may have come as quite a shock to the player himself too, as he revealed last year that Jones had told him he was "distinctly average" and lacked a world-class work rate needed to succeed at international level, according to The Telegraph.
Image: Tom Wood in action for England against Australia in the 2015 Rugby World Cup. ©INPHO/Billy Stickland
Whether it was a motivation for the player or not remains to be seen, but he has performed well for Northampton so far this season and has an opportunity to show Jones that he can take the criticism and react as the coach would want.
Speaking about the selection, Jones highlight that the injuries were a key factor in naming his squad.
"With a number of influential players missing through injury we have two weeks to prepare a robust and resilient team to meet the challenges set for us in the Old Mutual Wealth Series," said Jones.
"Our training camp in Portugal is a great opportunity to spend a week together, focus on putting our game plans in place and for new players to understand the England way.
"We’re looking forward to being back in front of a passionate Twickenham crowd and I’m confident we can prepare well and put together a matchday 23 which is full of pride, energy and commitment to give South Africa the game of their lives."
There were also returns for Jonny May of Gloucester, after an injury had ruled him out of action recently, while back-row forward Ben Morgan and second-row Dave Attwood of Bath were recalled too.
The squad in full is:
Forwards
Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Nathan Hughes (Wasps)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)
Tommy Taylor (Wasps)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Backs
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Elliot Daly (Wasps)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
George Ford (Bath Rugby)
Alex Goode (Saracens)
Mike Haley (Sale Sharks)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)
Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath Rugby)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)
Marland Yarde (Harlequins)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
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