England welcome two large figures back to their Pennyhill Park training base this week after it was confirmed that Mako Vunipola had been named in a 28-man squad for this Sunday’s Six Nations clash against Italy, with his younger brother Billy an additional inclusion to provide an update on his recovery from injury.

Mako Vunipola played in his first match for nine weeks last Friday as he started Saracens’ 31-23 defeat by Gloucester, having recovered from damaged knee ligaments that threatened to keep him out of the entire Six Nations championship.

The 26-year-old looked sharp on his return despite a second consecutive loss for the reigning Premiership champions, and as promised, Eddie Jones has responded by including him in an enlarged 28-man squad.

The absence of both Leicester Tigers prop Ellis Genge and Matt Mullan of Wasps almost guarantees Vunipola’s inclusion in Sunday’s encounter at Twickenham, with Joe Marler the only other recognised loosehead prop in the squad.

Despite not being named in the 28-man party, Billy Vunipola will also join up with the squad this week in Surrey so that the England camp can monitor his own recovery from knee ligament damage. Jones has talked up Vunipola’s return for England’s final Six Nations match against Ireland in Dublin on 18 March, but the Saracens No 8 played down his chances at the weekend and appeared to rule himself out of the tournament completely.

"I have still got a while to go - hopefully I will be running soon," Vunipola told The Sun. "I think it'll be two or three weeks so I probably won't make the Ireland game.

It will be tough for me to put pressure on myself so it is probably a bit unfair to say I will come straight back into th <p>Billy Vunipola</p>

"There is a lot of work for myself to do and, up to this point, the physio team and the strength and conditioning group have done a great job.

"So I shall keep my head down and when I am back, I am back, but I am not expecting to walk straight back into the England team.

"It will be tough for me to put pressure on myself so it is probably a bit unfair to say I will come straight back into the fold."

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James Haskell is also named among a pack of 15 forwards, with the Wasps flanker poised for a larger role as he continues to step up his return from a toe injury that forced him to miss more than seven months of the season.

Included in the 12-man backline that Jones has retained is Henry Slade and Ben Te’o, with both pushing to be included in this weekend’s encounter. Te’o has been impressive off the replacements’ bench in both of England’s opening victories over France and Wales, while Slade’s performance in the Exeter Chiefs’ 48-32 victory over Worcester Warriors at the weekend provided Jones with a timely reminder of his qualities.

Anthony Watson is also included, with the Bath wing poised to start against the pointless Italians after missing both of England’s matches so far this year with a hamstring injury.

Six Nations team of the weekend - round two Show all 15 1 /15 Six Nations team of the weekend - round two Six Nations team of the weekend - round two stuart-hogg3.jpg Bagged his third try of the tournament as his footwork left Baptiste Serin of France on his heels. Could have done better to prevent Gael Fickou’s score, but his attacking flair still ensured he was the standout 15 this weekend. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two elliot-daly1.jpg His match-winning try will go down in English folklore, but it was his determination to chase Dan Biggar and beat him to the loose ball after his interception that saved England in Cardiff. Has jettisoned into Lions contention over the last two weeks. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two garry-ringrose1.jpg If he eased himself in last weekend Ringrose dazzled against Italy as he beat five men and made more metres than anyone else in Rome rout. Bagged a try of his own for good measure. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two gael-fickou1.jpg A constant thorn in the Scottish defences’ side as he combined power and precision to burst open gaps in the line. Took his try very well, reaching out to score that immediately capped the Scots’ momentum. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two liam-williams1.jpg Just ousts Simon Zebo thanks to his illusive running against solid defender Jack Nowell and beautiful line the cut through the England defence and score on the stroke of half-time. Had another chance when he combined with Jonathan Davies, and unlucky to be on the losing side come the full-time whistle. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two dan-biggar1.jpg About as good a defensive display as you will see from a full-back. Made an exceptional 14 tackles as Nathan Hughes tried to ram the ball down his throat, and his interception on his own line saved Wales from conceding and gained them 80m in the process. Unlucky not to bag himself a try, as the combination of Nowell, Daly and a forward pass robbed him of three chances to score. Getty Six Nations team of the weekend - round two rhys-webb.jpg Unlucky not to score when his lunge for the line saw him ground the ball short, but he opened the space for Liam Williams to touch down with a smart line at the English defence. Could find himself in trouble for what looked to be a deliberate knee to Maro Itoje though. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two cian-healy.jpg A very good showing from the loosehead as he got the better of Sinckler in the scrum and it was fitting that he departed in the 51st minute by winning a penalty at the set-piece. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two niall-scannell.jpg In at the last minute following Rory Best’s unavailability through illness, Scannell coped exceptionally well and helped run a 100 per cent lineout in Rome. Chipped in with seven carries for a 21m gain too to allow the back-row and back line to take the glory. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two dan-cole.jpg Came up trumps for England when it mattered most as Wales chose to scrum a penalty that resulted in Cole turning in Rob Evans and relieving the pressure, proving the old dog still has some bite left in him. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two joe-launchbury.jpg A brilliant display of determination with the ball and grit without it as he led the way with the most tackles a well as the second-most carries, and combined with Itoje to drive home England’s advantage in the scrum. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two courtney-lawes.jpg One of his finest performances in an England shirt that proves he’s another benefitting from the Eddie Jones effect. One bone-shuddering hit on Biggar set the tone for England’s defensive display, and also contributed with an impressive 20 tackles. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two cj-stander.jpg Three tries will always go a long way to getting you in the team of the week for any flanker, but that only tells half of the story. The Munster man was unstoppable, making 73m and beating 11 defenders and helped put Italy out of the game before half time. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two kevin-gourdon.jpg The standout French forward as they imposed themselves on the Scottish pack, both in the scrum and the loose. Scotland had no answer when it came to scrum time, but it was Gourdon’s running with the ball in hand that really stood out and he also put in some monster hits defensively as the opposition crumbled. Six Nations team of the weekend - round two nathan-hughes.jpg Beats Jamie Heaslip to the shirt by the slimmest of margins, but it was his ability to break the gain line that wins him the shirt. Smashed his way through the line with 22 carries and his 75 metres contributed enormously, none more so than the smart break from the base of a ruck that led to three points.

England’s 28-man training squad:

Forwards (16)

Jack Clifford (Harlequins)

Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)

Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)

Jamie George (Saracens)

Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints)

Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)

James Haskell (Wasps)

Nathan Hughes (Wasps)

Maro Itoje (Saracens)

Joe Launchbury (Wasps)

Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)

Joe Marler (Harlequins)

Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)

Mako Vunipola (Saracens)

Mike Williams (Leicester Tigers)

Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)

Backs (12)

Mike Brown (Harlequins)

Danny Care (Harlequins)

Elliot Daly (Wasps)

Owen Farrell (Saracens)

George Ford (Bath Rugby)

Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)

Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)

Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)

Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)

Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)

Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)