England coach Eddie Jones has said he is focused on making England "the greatest team the world of rugby has ever seen," but refused to be drawn on what Saracens' relegation means for the national squad at a news conference on Monday.
Jones revealed his 34-man 2020 Six Nations squad -- including eight uncapped players -- two days after it was announced that Saracens will be relegated from the Gallagher Premiership at the end of this season for breaching salary cap rules.
"All they have got to do is come in and have a great excitement about playing for England. All of that business, that will get sorted out," Jones said.
Jones said it was "not my issue at the moment" when asked if he would be willing to pick players from the Championship once Saracens are relegated.
The England coach promised to regenerate the squad after they fell in the World Cup final to the Springboks, and he has used the opportunity to blood plenty of fresh faces.
The 34-man squad includes uncapped trio Tom Dunn, Ben Earl and Ollie Thorley who have been present in England squads in the past but are yet to win their first Test cap, while centre Fraser Dingwall, fullback George Furbank, second-row Alex Moon, tight-head Will Stuart and fly-half Jacob Umaga earn their first inclusion.
Six Nations squad announcements:
- Ireland: Sexton named captain as Farrell drops Kearney
- Wales: Rees-Zammit handed call-up after electric Premiership form
- Scotland: Hogg named captain, Townsend calls up six uncapped players
- France: All change for Les Bleus with 19 uncapped players
- Italy: Scarbi earns first Azzurri call-up for six years
"It's got the potential to be the best team in the world, which is what we want to be," Jones said.
"We set out to be that four years ago and we missed out on that by the World Cup final and came second which is disappointing.
"We also want to be the greatest team the world of rugby has ever seen.
"We want to set ourselves high, see how we can extend ourselves and we've brought in a number of young players to see how far this team can go."
Billy Vunipola broke his arm for Saracens on Sunday and misses out alongside Exeter's Jack Nowell who Jones confirmed is to have surgery.
"It's massively disappointing for him but these things happen," Jones said about Vunipola's absence.
"The tide will turn for Billy. At the moment it's tough and probably feels the whole world is against him, but he'll be all right."
Joe Cokanasiga, Henry Slade, Dan Cole, Jack Singleton, Mark Wilson, Piers Francis and Ruaridh McConnochie are also excluded either through injury or form.
Jones has also included Northampton's Alex Mitchell and Newcastle Falcons' Josh Hodge as apprentice players.
"It is always about winning the next game so we have picked the best squad available," Jones said. "At the same time, we wanted to bring some young players in because we need to keep building our depth so for those new players it is an exciting opportunity for them.
"Our first task is beating France in France and that is the only game we need to worry about. We will begin our preparations in Portugal, get a bit of sun, some warm conditions and get ourselves physically and mentally right for the game.
"The first three days will be about getting organised. We have got players from 11 clubs so we need to get everyone on the same page quickly, spend a lot of time working on our togetherness and then by Tuesday next week we are in Test preparation for France."
England have also announced assistant coach Steve Borthwick will leave his post in the national side at the end of the season, and is expected to join Leicester Tigers. He will be replaced by Melbourne Storm's Jason Ryles as skills coach.
Jones' England open their Six Nations campaign against France in Paris on Feb. 2.
England squad:
Forwards:
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Tom Dunn (Bath), Ben Earl (Saracens), Charlie Ewels (Bath), Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), Jamie George (Saracens), Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors). Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Alex Moon (Northampton Saints), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby), Sam Underhill (Bath), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)
Backs:
Elliot Daly (Saracens), Ollie Devoto (Exeter Chiefs), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Leicester Tigers), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Willi Heinz (Gloucester Rugby), Jonathan Joseph (Bath), Jonny May (Leicester Tigers), Ollie Thorley (Gloucester Rugby), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), Jacob Umaga (Wasps), Anthony Watson (Bath), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)