England captain Maro Itoje has not been included in head coach Steve Borthwick’s training squad ahead of July’s Nations Championship amid “ongoing conversations” around the lock’s involvement in the summer.
Borthwick revealed last month that he had discussed the idea of resting the Saracens star for the tournament after what he called a “challenging year”, including a British and Irish Lions tour, a demanding Six Nations campaign, and the death of his mother in November, alongside his club commitments.
The Gallagher Prem semi-finals also restrict Borthwick’s selections to players not involved in this weekend’s action, making space for a number of uncapped players.
New inclusions feature Saracens lock Hugh Tizard, Harlequins prop Will Hobson, Sale hooker Nathan Jibulu and Bristol tighthead George Kloska, all of whom will be hoping to feature in an uncapped England XV’s trip to Vannes to face a France XV on Friday June 19.
Steve Borthwick discusses with James Cole on England Rugby captain, Maro Itoje, and whether he may be left out of the squad for the Springboks contest this summer.
England head coach Steve Borthwick ahead of the Guinness Men’s Six Nations match at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh. Picture dat
Elsewhere, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Ellis Genge all return to Pennyhill Park to rehabilitate their injuries, while Saracens wing Tobias Elliot joins the squad alongside Gloucester back Ben Redshaw.
There is just under a month to go until England’s trip to Johannesburg to face world champions South Africa, before playing Fiji and Argentina in Liverpool and Santiago del Estero respectively.
England training squad:
Forwards:
Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby), Jamie George (Saracens) , Will Hobson (Harlequins), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Nathan Jibulu (Sale Sharks), Jack Kenningham (Harlequins), George Kloska (Bristol Bears), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), Hugh Tizard (Saracens)
Backs:
Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Noah Caluori (Saracens), Tobias Elliott (Saracens), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Benhard Janse van Rensburg (Bristol Bears), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Ben Redshaw (Gloucester Rugby), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
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