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Seven capped players included in England A squad to play Australia A
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.
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.
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.”
See England’s brightest young talent when England A take on Australia A on Sunday, 17 November at Harlequins’ Twickenham Stoop – KO 14:00 GMT. Tickets are available from only £25 for adults & £15 for U16 (+booking fees) here.
View the match live and free on RugbyPass TV (exc. UK & Australia).
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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A number of these players should be in the England 1stXV but SB is myopic as usual, trained by EJ.
Is Will Butt suspended for this fixture? We are short on 12s and he has shown up really well so far this season.
My thoughts exactly!
1 Iyogun
2 Langdon
3 Heyes
4 Hill??? (why is there only 1 lock in the squad???)
5 Batley
6 Pearson
7 Pollock
8 T. Willis
9 Porter
10 Shillcock
11 Murley
12 Ojomoh
13 Dingwall
14 Roebuck
15 Carpenter
?
actually - by the looks of it there's only one loosehead in the squad, so presumably Opoku-Fordjour will be parachuted in after training with the first team. Perhaps this also opens up the possibility for Ewels to be picked at 4, with Hill moving to 6?
On premier sports instead of TNT just takes the p1ss.