England v Barbarians: George Ford out with Achilles strain

Ford (left) has played 69 Tests for England since making his debut as a 20-year-old against Wales in 2014

Fly-half George Ford has pulled out of England's match against the Barbarians after aggravating a pre-existing Achilles tendon injury.

Ford's absence means Owen Farrell and Piers Francis are the two capped fly-half options left in the squad, although Francis plays more at centre.

Uncapped Max Malins, who can play at 10 or full-back, is one of three Bristol players called up.

Club team-mates Kyle Sinckler and Ben Earl also come into the squad.

Bristol had been on standby to play Exeter in Saturday's Premiership final until it was confirmed on Wednesday morning that Wasps, who beat the Bears in the semi-finals, had successfully contained a Covid-19 outbreak in their squad.

• Lawrence can be Test force - Jones

Bath fly-half Tom de Glanville and Harlequins prop Simon Kerrod, who had been in Eddie Jones' squad last week but were subsequently dropped, will get the chance to impress the England head coach in opposition colours after being included in the Barbarians squad for Sunday.

Former England captain Chris Robshaw and Saracens and England scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth are also in the invitational side's selection.

England's non-Test meeting with the Barbarians is followed by their postponed Six Nations finale against Italy on 31 October.

England will then play four Tests against Georgia, Ireland, Wales and a yet-to-be-confirmed opponent on successive weekends from 14 November as part of the Autumn Nations Cup.

England squad

Backs: Ali Crossdale (Saracens)* Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)*, Owen Farrell (Saracens), Piers Francis (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Willi Heinz (Gloucester), Jonathan Joseph (Bath), Ollie Lawrence (Worcester Warriors)*, Joe Marchant (Harlequins), Max Malins (Bristol Bears)*, Jonny May (Gloucester), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints)*, Ollie Thorley (Gloucester)*, Anthony Watson (Bath), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

Forwards: Tom Curry (Sale), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)*, Tom Dunn (Bath)*, Ben Earl (Bristol Bears), Charlie Ewels (Bath), Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)*, Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Alex Moon (Northampton Saints), Beno Obano (Bath)*, David Ribbans (Northampton Saints)*, Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears), Will Stuart (Bath), Sam Underhill (Bath), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)

*uncapped players

Barbarians squad

Backs: Tom de Glanville, Simone Kuruvoli, Alex Lewington, Sean Maitland, Fergus McFadden, Dom Morris, Juan Pablo Socino, Serupepli Vularika, Manu Vunipola, Richard Wigglesworth

Forwards: Calum Clark, Christopher Eves, Haereiti Hetet, Tevita Ikanivere, Simon Kerrod, Joel Kpoku, Rusiate Nasove, Manu Ratuniyarawa, Chris Robshaw, Tim Swinson, Samulea Tawake, Tom Woolstencroft, Jackson Wray

• BBC Three: How football saved Robbie from addiction

• Plant-based diet: How effective is it for weight loss?