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England Rugby’s 36-player summer tour squad examined: Bristol Bears star makes injury return

England face a two Test tour to Argentina this summer with a third international against the USA

Harry Randall of Bristol Bears leaves the pitch injured during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Semi Final. (Photo by Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images)

Steve Borthwick has named a 36-player squad for the upcoming Tour to Argentina and the USA, which includes a two-Test series against Los Pumas, followed by a Test match against the Eagles in Washington, D.C.

With 13 England players away with the British and Irish Lions, Borthwick has included ten uncapped players in the touring party in: Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Oscar Beard (Harlequins), Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks), Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby), Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints), Will Muir (Bath Rugby), Luke Northmore (Harlequins), Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby), and Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby).


The squad, which has a combined total of 561 caps, will be co-captained by Saracens hooker Jamie George and Sale Sharks fly-half George Ford, and is made up of 20 forwards and 16 backs.


England senior men will open the Tour in Buenos Aires on Saturday 5 July (kick-off 2040 BST), before travelling to San Juan for the second Test on Saturday 12 July (kick-off 2040 BST). The Tour will conclude with a Test against the USA in Washington, D.C., on Saturday 19 July (kick-off 2200 BST).

Borthwick said: “The three-Test series is a huge challenge and a valuable opportunity for the continued development of this squad.

“For some of the younger players, this will be their first experience of touring overseas with England. Travelling together helps strengthen team bonds and offers a valuable chance for new players to integrate into our environment.

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“It’s an exciting test for us, and we’re looking forward to seeing how we continue to evolve as a team.”

South West rugby writer John Evely takes a closer look at the headlines from Borthwick’s summer squad…

Bristol scrum-half recovers from injury


Harry Randall has recovered from a shoulder injury he suffered in Bristol Bears' epic 34-20 defeat to Bath in the play-off semi-finals to be named as one of three scrum halves in England’s touring squad this summer.

Randall, 27, has been rehabbing his shoulder in recent weeks and wasn’t part of the squad that took on France at the weekend. He will do battle with Bath club captain Ben Spencer and Leicester’s Jack van Poortvliet, who returns from a week of training with the British and Irish Lions as injury cover for Jamison Gibson-Park, to compete for the two scrum-half berths in each matchday squad this summer.

Gloucester centre included after breaking records in training


The Cherry and Whites have three uncapped players included in the England squad to tour the Americas, with young inside centre Seb Atkinson taking his opportunity to impress at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday despite the England XV he started in losing 24-26 to France.

Atkinson, who took the unofficial title of being the fastest professional rugby player to ever record the sport’s infamous Bronco test, has been setting new standards in training according to Borthwick.

"The way Seb Atkinson has embraced training, the way he’s jumped into it. He’s smashed every record we have on GPS in terms of his running," Borthwick said last week.


The centre will be joined by clubmates Charlie Atkinson and Arthur Clark. Fly-half Atkinson has been a regular fixture for England A over the last couple of seasons, and with Fin Smith and Marcus Smith away with the Lions this summer, he will be given an opportunity to play understudy to co-captain Ford.

Lock Clark looks set to earn his first cap, having been named in England’s wider training squad ahead of the 2025 Six Nations, only to be ruled out by a training ground injury.

Borthwick sticks with banned Exeter Chiefs winger


Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has been included in England’s summer tour squad, despite being suspended for the first two matches.

Exeter Chiefs winger Feyi-Waboso was sent off for a high tackle on Antoine Hastoy in the first half of Saturday’s 26-24 loss to a France XV on his first appearance since suffering a dislocated shoulder in December.

Due to his ban, the 22-year-old will be unavailable for the matches against Los Pumas on July 5 and 12 in La Plata and San Juan respectively.


Subject to completing a tackle course, Feyi-Waboso, who has scored five tries in eight international caps, will return to contention for the clash with the USA on July 19 in Washington DC. Crucially for the explosive 22-year-old, Borthwick’s decision to take him on tour means he remains with an outside chance of being called up to the Lions should an injury strike in Australia.

England turn to Bath’s pack for power

Four of Bath’s Premiership-winning pack have been included in Borthwick’s squad this summer with lock Charlie Ewels and flanker Sam Underhill two of the more experienced players in a relatively inexperienced set of forwards.


Flankers Ted Hill and Guy Pepper have also been included, with the latter having been named player of the match in both the Premiership semi-final and final having been drafted into the Blue, Black and White starting XV with Underhill serving a ban for a high tackle during the club’s EPCR Challenge Cup final win over Lyon. Underhill his now free to play.

Uncapped centre Max Ojomoh, who has also grown in stature at the Rec in the absence of the injured Ollie Lawrence, has been included in the backs along with scrum-half Spencer and winger Will Muir.

England’s 36-player training squad


Forwards:

Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 11 caps)

Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby, uncapped)


Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 7 caps)

Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 15 caps)

Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 11 caps)


Theo Dan (Saracens, 17 caps)

Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)

Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 20 caps)


Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 31 caps)

Jamie George (Saracens, 101 caps) – co-captain

Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 12 caps)


Ted Hill (Bath Rugby, 4 caps)

Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 15 caps)

Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints, uncapped)


Curtis Langdon (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)

Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks, 1 cap)

Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby, uncapped)


Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 7 caps)

Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 40 caps)

Tom Willis (Saracens, 6 caps)


Backs:

Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby, uncapped)

Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby, uncapped)


Oscar Beard (Harlequins, uncapped)

Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks, uncapped)

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs, 8 caps)


George Ford (Sale Sharks, 99 caps) – co-captain

Will Muir (Bath Rugby, uncapped)

Cadan Murley (Harlequins, 1 cap)


Luke Northmore (Harlequins, uncapped)

Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby, uncapped)

Harry Randall ( Bristol Bears, 13 caps)


Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks, 4 caps)

Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 72 caps)

Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby, 8 caps)

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Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 36 caps)

Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 18 caps)

Not considered for selection due to injury: Joe Batley (Bristol Bears), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), George Martin (Leicester Tigers), Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints).

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