Gloucester Rugby will have five representatives in England’s latest 26-player squad, called up for a three-day training camp ahead of the uncapped England XV versus France XV match in Vannes. The squad includes Gloucester trio Ben Redshaw, Afolabi Fasogbon, and Charlie Atkinson, along with Arthur and Seb Atkinson.
The upcoming match, scheduled just before the Gallagher Premiership final, serves as a vital warm-up ahead of the inaugural Nations Championship. This fixture offers players a prime opportunity to impress head coach Steve Borthwick and secure their place for the summer Tests.
This is the second squad assembled in preparation for the summer internationals and explicitly excludes players competing in the Gallagher Premiership Play-Offs. Earlier, Borthwick named a larger 42-player group that included 23 players from teams still involved in the playoffs.
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Redshaw, Fasogbon, and Charlie Atkinson have been on the fringes of the England setup for the past 18 months. Notably, Redshaw (fullback) and Fasogbon (tighthead prop) featured for England A last autumn. Charlie Atkinson, who earned his first senior cap during last summer’s tour to Argentina and the USA, has maintained his place at fly-half for Gloucester this season despite competition from Irish international Ross Byrne.
The squad will convene today (Tuesday 9 June) and train at England’s Performance Centre at Pennyhill Park until Thursday.
In addition to Gloucester players, the squad features Bristol Bears’ trio George Kloska, Harry Randall, and uncapped South African-born centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg. Janse van Rensburg is eligible to play in non-capped matches and will make his England debut against France XV before officially qualifying for capped games later this summer.
England’s Nations Championship campaign kicks off in Johannesburg against South Africa on 4 July, followed by fixtures against Fiji and Argentina.
England Training Squad:
Forwards: Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby), Jamie George (Saracens), Will Hobson (Harlequins), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Nathan Jibulu (Sale Sharks), Jack Kenningham (Harlequins), George Kloska (Bristol Bears), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), Hugh Tizard (Saracens)
Backs: Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Noah Caluori (Saracens), Tobias Elliott (Saracens), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Benhard Janse van Rensburg (Bristol Bears), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Ben Redshaw (Gloucester Rugby), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Rehabilitation: Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)