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Borthwick names 36-man squad for next week's England training camp
By Liam Heagney
England head coach Steve Borthwick has named a 36-man squad for next week’s mini-training camp ahead of the four-match Autumn Nations Series schedule which begins with a November 2 encounter at home to the All Blacks.
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It was June 10 when Borthwick last announced an England squad, naming the 36 he was taking with him for the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand. Six uncapped players were included and three – Tom Roebuck, Ollie Sleightholme and Fin Baxter – arrived home capped.
His latest batch of 36 contains seven alterations to his 20 forwards with Ollie Chessum, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Trevor Davison, Greg Fisilau, Ellis Genge, Tom Pearson and Tom Willis included with the Curry twins (Ben and Tom), Alex Dombrandt, Charlie Ewels, Joe Heyes, Gabriel Oghre and Bevan Rodd absent.
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There are four changes to the 16 selected backs with Oscar Beard, Elliot Daly, Alex Lozowski and Jack van Poortvliet included, with Joe Carpenter, Alex Mitchell, Luke Northmore and Henry Slade missing from the squad.
Saracens’ midfielder Lozowski is the surprise call up as he was last capped for England in 2018. Cowan-Dickie, meanwhile, has yet to play under Borthwick having won his last capped in November 2022 when Eddie Jones was still in charge.
Slade, Dombrandt and Northmore will attend England camp in an unofficial capacity to rehabilitate their current injuries while the Currys, Mitchell and Rodd, four of the other summer tourists, listed amongst a group of nine players – including George Ford – were not considered for selection due to injury.
A statement read: “England head coach Steve Borthwick has named a 36-player squad for a three-day training camp ahead of the forthcoming 2024 Autumn Nations Series. The squad will assemble on Monday, October 7, with training taking place at England’s Honda Performance Centre, Pennyhill Park and at Allianz Stadium.
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“England welcome New Zealand at Allianz Stadium 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: “After watching a competitive and high scoring start to the Premiership season, I am once again looking forward to gathering the players together.
“This training camp is an important part of our preparations for the Autumn Nations Series as we continue to build on the cohesion we have developed over the past two campaigns.
“The squad reflects the depth and quality we have in English rugby, and we are looking forward to working with the players ahead of what will be a highly competitive series.”
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England’s 36-player squad
Forwards (20):
Fin Baxter (Harlequins)
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks)
Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins)
Theo Dan (Saracens)
Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints)
Ben Earl (Saracens)
Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Pearson (Northampton Saints)
Ethan Roots (Exeter Chiefs)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Tom Willis (Saracens)
Backs (16):
Oscar Beard (Harlequins)
Elliot Daly (Saracens)
Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints)
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby)
Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears)
Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)
Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)
Rehabilitation (3): Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Luke Northmore (Harlequins).
Not considered for selection (9): Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Will Muir (Bath Rugby), Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby), Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks).
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I'm surprised Marler is in. Would have much much preferred Obano or Opoku-Fordjour. I'd also have preferred Opoku-Fordjour ahead of Davison, if he's considered a tighthead now. His omission seems glaring.
Selection at hooker looks fine. I'd personally have gone with Langdon ahead of Cowan-Dickie, but I can see the argument for LCD.
I'm surprised there isn't another lock in the squad. Specifically I think Tuima could have been included ahead of someone like Tom Willis, particularly given Tuima can cover 8.
Happy to see Pearson and Fisilau given a shot, but honestly I might not have gone for either of them myself. I'd have been tempted to swap out Pearson for Pepper - or possibly even Pollock - and Fisilau for Mercer. But I appreciate none of these guys are likely to get much gametime this autumn, so its more about where Borthwick sees the squad going over the next few years.
At 9 I'm extremely happy to see JVP brought back in. I was wondering if we might see Will Porter introduced at the expense of Spencer, but I'm not too surprised that Borthwick didn't go there.
In the backs I'm forever perplexed by the positional spread. Beard, Dingwall, Lawrence, Lozowski, and Daly are all outside centres, and Borthwick hasn't picked a single specialist 12. I'd have dropped Lozowski, Beard, and Daly, and brought in Will Butt (or Dan Kelly, or Seb Atkinson). Those droppings would also free up space for Cadan Murley, and potentially another forward.
Only two uncapped players?