England have exploited tour regulations to delay the announcement of their team until Friday morning as they assess several borderline injuries even though a World Rugby ruling passed on Wednesday night will not allow any such deferments from Jan 1.

England themselves raised concerns about team-announcement delays prior to last year’s Rugby World Cup. England have not broken any existing regulations by doing what they have done (and Eddie Jones was not in charge at the time) but those rulings are being tightened from the new year to end any such confusion.