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Borthwick names England squad of 36 for the Autumn Nations Series
By Liam Heagney
Steve Borthwick has named his 36-player squad for the four-game Autumn Nations Series which begins on November 2 with the Allianz Stadium clash versus New Zealand.
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It was October 4 when the head coach initially named a squad for a three-day training camp from October 7 in London, a 36 that had 11 changes – seven in the pack and four in the backs – from the 36 originally named for the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand.
Twelve days on from that initial Autumn Nations Series training selection, he has now named a group consisting of 20 forwards and 16 backs that has seven changes from the October 4 selection.
The Curry twins, Ben and Tom, Alex Dombrandt, Charlie Ewels and Nick Isiekwe are the five different forwards included at the expense of Alex Coles, Greg Fisilau, Tom Pearson, Ethan Roots and Tom Willis, with Luke Northmore and Henry Slade added to the backs in place of Oscar Beard and Fraser Dingwall.
While not named on October 4, Ewels and Isiekwe were added to the training squad a couple of days later to replace Coles and George Martin who were unable to train. While Martin has recovered to now return to the November squad, Coles is listed as one of eight players not considered for selection due to injury.
That ‘not considered’ group includes Alex Mitchell, Borthwick’s first-choice scrum-half since last year’s Rugby World Cup in France. He has yet to play for Northampton this season due to a slow healing neck issue. However, while he is ruled out to leave the No9 shirt to be contested by Harry Randall, Ben Spencer and Jack van Poortvliet, out-half George Ford is still in the mix for the start of the Autumn Nations Series.
Ford, who missed the summer tour through injury having started all five Guinness Six Nations matches as the England No10, has been dealing with a thigh muscle that was torn at Saracens on September 28 while playing for Sale in the Gallagher Premiership. While not officially listed in the squad of 36, Ford is named as an additional rehabilitation player.
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Eight of the 10 Premiership clubs have players involved, with Saracens providing the biggest contingent of seven (five forwards/two backs) and Harlequins the next best with six (four forwards/two backs). Bath, Leicester and Northampton each have five players chosen, Sale four and there are two apiece from Bristol and Exeter.
An RFU statement read: “England men’s head coach Steve Borthwick has named a 36-player training squad for the forthcoming Autumn Nations Series. The squad, which is made up of 20 forwards and 16 backs, will assemble at the Honda England Rugby Performance Centre, Pennyhill Park on Monday, October 21, before flying to Girona to begin their training.
“England welcome New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Saturday, November 2 (kick-off 3.10pm) for their first match of the 2024 Autumn Nations Series before taking on Australia, South Africa and Japan.”
Borthwick said: “Naming this squad is an exciting step in our preparations for the Autumn Nations Series, and we look forward to working with the players again in the days ahead. Our focus is on thorough preparation and building cohesion as we approach what will be a fiercely competitive series.
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“Facing New Zealand in the opening match is a tremendous opportunity for us to test ourselves against one of the best teams in the world. Having only played at Allianz Stadium twice in our last 15 games, it will be fantastic to return and play in front of our home crowd. The energy and passion of our supporters always give the players an extra boost.”
England Autumn Nations Series squad
Forwards (20)
Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 2 caps)
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 115 caps)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 41 caps)
Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 7 caps)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 5 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 53 caps)
Theo Dan (Saracens, 14 caps)
Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 17 caps)
Ben Earl (Saracens, 33 caps)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 31 caps)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 62 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 93 caps)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 11 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 84 caps)
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 95 caps)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 15 caps)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 41 caps)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 38 caps)
Backs (16)
Elliot Daly (Saracens, 69 caps)
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs, 6 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 11 caps)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 11 caps)
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 27 caps)
Alex Lozowski (Saracens, 5 caps)
Luke Northmore (Harlequins, 2 caps)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 7 caps)
Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks, 1 cap)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 65 caps)
Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 35 caps)
Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby, 6 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 34 caps)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 14 caps)
Rehabilitation: George Ford (Sale Sharks)
Not considered for selection: Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Will Muir (Bath Rugby), Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby), Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks).
We all have our opinions . Slade just class though. And Malins . Depends if they fit into team plans.
Quite what Jvp (leics) has done to be selected passes me by .
Harry Randall is hot at present but can he keep it up all season like Ben Spencer. Another class act.
Don't get me going on Ford.
Please watch the 2 Smiths and ask if Ford is anywhere near their level .Too slow and utterly predictable. Sale are winning well without him so what does that say for England .
Will Borthwick at last pick the best players and not leicester pals.
Ewels and Isiekwe are not international standard, there are betters second rows in the Premiership than these 2. Slade misses tackles, does not side step, never throws a dummy and is not fast enough for international rugby. More wasted places by Mr B.
Disagree re Slade he is the best distributing centre in England when fit and firing as Tom alludes to in his post, however i agree totally re Ewels and Isiekwe.
Ewels has had two red cards in his last two tests, is SB letting him go for the hat trick?
Isiekwe goes missing when the going gets tough, he has shown nothing at test level at all and if you watched last weeks Quins v Saracens match he was anonymous then as well.
However it may be that he has them in this squad to make up the numbers and both may get cut closer to the tests.
Slade is one of the most talented backs England has produced in a long time. He can run well and his kicking and passing are exceptional. No other player in England can time a pass better or draw a defender better to put a winger in space. His tackling is excellent and he's the leader of the defense for both Exeter and England. He flies out the line because that is his job for England, in most cases when this has gone wrong it's been the players around him at fault. Week in week out last season he was the best back in the prem, look how much worse Exeter are this season without him. His attacking skillset as a playmaker has been massively underutilized by England however, he's one of the silkiest players around and he's spent most of his time chasing box kicks, making tackles and hitting rucks. I do agree about Isiekwe though.