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Seven capped players included in England A squad to play Australia A

BAGSHOT, ENGLAND - MARCH 11: Fraser Dingwall of England runs with the ball during the England Training Session at Pennyhill Park on March 11, 2024 in Bagshot, England. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Northampton Saints centre Fraser Dingwall has been named England A captain as a 24-player squad was selected to take on Australia A at Twickenham Stoop on Sunday, November 17.

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Dingwall is one of seven capped players included, alongside club-mates Curtis Langdon and Tom Pearson, Leicester Tigers prop Joe Heyes, Bath flanker Ted Hill, Sale winger Tom Roebuck and Saracens No.8 Tom Willis.

Five of those, Dingwall, Pearson, Hill, Roebuck and Willis spent time with Steve Borthwick’s senior squad ahead of the Autumn Nations Series but were not involved in the narrow defeat to New Zealand or this weekend’s meeting with Australia.

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Forwards Afolabi Fasogbon, Henry Pollock and Vilikesa Sela, meanwhile, have been included having been part of head coach Mark Mapletoft’s World Rugby U20 Championship winning side.

Scrum-half Archie McParland did not feature in South Africa but played for Mapletoft during the 2024 U20 Six Nations, which England also won.

In total, eight members of the matchday 23 that beat Portugal A 91-5 at Welford Road in February – the team’s first match for eight years – have been recalled for this month’s assignment.

Premiership Rugby Player of the Month Gabriel Ibitoye, meanwhile, has been rewarded for his fine form with a place in the squad.

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The wider squad and matchday 23 for the Australia A match has been selected in consultation with Mapletoft and determined by Borthwick and RFU Executive Director of Performance Rugby, Conor O’Shea.

Mapletoft will be assisted by his U20 lieutenants Andy Titterrell and Nathan Catt while Bath’s Lee Blackett and Haydn Thomas of Exeter Chiefs will add their expertise to the coaching staff.

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The squad will assemble at Hazlewood Centre next Tuesday, where they will be joined by selected players currently training with the senior squad.

Mapletoft said: “The coaching staff and I are incredibly excited to reveal this squad after extensive collaborative work and are looking forward to working with some familiar and new faces alike.

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“Next week presents a platform for a selection of some of the best Premiership talent to express themselves further whilst representing their country, some of those being U20 players me and the pathway staff have worked with very recently. It bridges from the pathway and into senior contention through vital game time in an England jersey.

“An England A matchweek is a short turnaround; the key for us is to instill a chemistry through extensive preparation, knowledge sharing and a diligent team culture ahead of a very competitive opportunity in front of an energetic home support.”

England Men A wider squad (includes club and senior caps)

Forwards

Joe Batley (Bristol Bears)

Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby)

Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)

Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 7 caps)

Ted Hill (Bath Rugby, 2 caps)

Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints)

Nathan Jibulu (Harlequins)

Curtis Langdon (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)

Gabriel Oghre (Bristol Bears)

Tom Pearson (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)

Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)

Vilikesa Sela (Bath Rugby)

Tom Willis (Saracens, 1 cap)

Backs

Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby)

Oscar Beard (Harlequins)

Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks)

Fraser Dingwall (c) (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)

Gabriel Ibitoye (Bristol Bears)

Archie McParland (Northampton Saints)

Cadan Murley (Harlequins)

Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby)

Will Porter (Harlequins)

Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks, 1 cap)

Jamie Shillcock (Leicester Tigers)

England Men A coaching staff for Australia A fixture

Mark Mapletoft – Head Coach

Andy Titterrell – Forwards Coach

Nathan Catt – Scrum Coach

Lee Blackett – Attack Coach

Haydn Thomas – Defence Coach

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Timmyboy 1 hr ago

On premier sports instead of TNT just takes the p1ss.

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RedWarrior 4 minutes ago
Mutual regard makes way for enmity as the flames of a very modern rivalry are fanned

In his excellent autobiography, Obsessed, Johnny Sexton says: “It’s an incredible memory, especially the lap of honour, seeing all sorts of familiar faces in an unfamiliar context.”


The book is really excellent. Incidently, I don't know if the humour is deliberatelty deadpan or not deliberate at all but some of it is extremely hilarious.

eg O'Driscoll was trying to mend things between O'Gara and Sexton. O'Driscoll said he was writing a book but didn't know what TO put into it about the two guys, who were rivals. O'Driscoll's book had mentioned game winning drop goals and penalties by O'Gara and this had irked the super paranoid and competitive Sexton. But O'Driscoll had got through about how valuable it would be if all energies were used by both men toward driving Ireland forward. O'Driscoll had put it more elegantly. Apparently next day O'D and Sexton are playing for Leinster against a Welsh club, game tied. Ball is available and Sexton is in the pocket and the wisdom of O'Driscolls words come back to him. It actually gets him into a serene sttae where he knows he will nail the not straight forward drop. Over it goes, Sexton turns and shouts at O'Driscoll "STICK THAT IN YOUR F**KING BOOK!!"

3 Go to comments
H
Hellhound 1 hour ago
Cultural reason behind divisive England trait explained by ex-Bok coach

They can do what they want, but they put too much emotion into it. Using that emotions for every little thing means that you lift your spirits for the moment but when things go bad, that same emotions drop to the boots. Especially if they are scored against. To lift those spirits higher again, requires a lot of effort. Emotional play makes you miss things on the field. It will cost you in the end. Maybe even the game.


To use a perfect example... The Bulls from South Africa in the URC reached 2 finals, and in both semi finals they played Leinster(effectively the Irish team), not their 2nd team, but all stars, and they beat them both times, once away and once at home. Those games was the Bulls finals. In the actual finals, they lost to the Stormers of SA, and Glasgow Warriors of Scotland. They put everything into those Leinster matches, knowing what would be needed, but it cost them in the finals.


Putting too much energy in silly celebrations, instead of focusing on the task at hand until the final whistle blow is what will give the other team the edge. It's why teams like the Boks and the Irish play 80 min games, not 50-60 min games. It's why they regularly wins. It's why the AB's struggle, because they have the talent, but they don't have 80 min in them yet. When a player gets tired, that's when mistakes slips in and teams like the Boks will punish you for it, even if they play bad, because they are focused. They are saving that energy for when it really matters.


That last 20 minutes is where most games are won or lost and that's where you need to dig deep. Wasting energy on silly celebrations like tackles or a ref decision etc is detrimental. Celebrating tries or points or even penalties, that is understandable. Required even to hype yourself up for about a minute or two, but then it's time to refocus.

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