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The Gloucester reaction to having 0 players in latest England squad
By Liam Heagney
George Skivington wasn’t shocked that not one of his Gloucester players were named in the England squad for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series, but he predicted this lack of representation will change next year. Gloucester and Newcastle were the two Gallagher Premiership clubs overlooked in the Test squad of 36 announced on Wednesday by Steve Borthwick to prepare next week in Spain ahead of the November schedule which features Allianz Stadium matches versus New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Japan.
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Borthwick had included five Gloucester players in last February’s England A team squad versus Portugal, forwards Seb Blake, Arthur Clark and Jack Clement along with half-backs Caolan Englefield and Charlie Atkinson, while Afolabi Fasogbon was a starter in last July’s World Rugby U20s Championship final win over France in Cape Town.
There are also multiple previously capped England players playing for the Cherry and Whites this season, including Zach Mercer, Jack Singleton and Ollie Thorley, and Val Rapava-Ruskin has long been touted as a potential international pick.
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All that talent was surplus to Borthwick requirement on Wednesday, though, as he instead unveiled a pick consisting of seven Saracens players, six from Harlequins, five from each of Bath, Leicester and Northampton, four from Sale while Bristol and Exeter had two apiece, leaving Gloucester and Newcastle drawing a blank.
Skivington is optimistic this share-out will be different in mid to late 2025. Asked by RugbyPass what Gloucester fans should make of Borthwick not choosing a single Kingsholm-based player, he reasoned: “We have talked a lot over the last few months about there is a young group of players who are playing a lot now.
“I talk about the two locks who were starting against Bath last weekend (Clark and Freddie Thomas). I believe this group are ready and you will see them a lot this year in the Premiership. I believe over the next couple of years they will have a part to play in international rugby and will be in the England squad.
“I don’t think any of us were expecting anybody to slip in this time, I don’t think we are quite there yet that those lads have quite done enough but the way we are playing is really going to showcase what some of our lads can do with the ball in hand and then once we sort of get our defence where we want it to be and set-piece, I believe we will have a good crop in there over the next couple of years.
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“It’s not a shock to me personally no one has slipped in as of yet this season but there are a good crop of lads who are not a million miles away and if their trajectory is good this year, they will be in or around it next summer or possibly the season after.”
Skivington was the England A head coach last February for that revived grade’s first outing since 2016. Mark Mapletoft, the national team U20s boss, will take the As for next month’s game versus Australia A and Gloucester will hope for some selection there. What is Skivington’s current rapport with Borthwick, who will oversee who gets chosen?
“I have got a good relationship with Steve,” he explained. “We sit down and discuss things and Steve is very aware of the good crop of English young players (at Gloucester). We have talked in length about that. He is very on it with those sort of things.
“You saw with the England A game last year how many lads we had in that training squad was a lot and that is Steve’s selection and seeing what he sees coming through. There is a lot of lads on the right track for that.
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“I’d love them to be in there now, I’d love there to be more English players. Ironically, we will have quite a few in the Autumn Series for other nations. The objective is and always has been to grow this group to become the Gloucester team – and hopefully a good chunk of them become part of the England team. I do believe we are on track with that, but we’re not there yet.”
"I did speak to Steve towards the end of last season…"
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