England summer training squad: 5 losers

Even with a raft of players away on British and Irish Lions duty this summer and Northampton and Bath players excluded because of their European commitments, Steve Borthwick must have still had some difficult decisions to make when it came to selecting his training squad ahead of the summer tour to Argentina and USA.

As such, some very good players have been overlooked and can start planning for their summer holidays in the knowledge that, for whatever reason, their face doesn’t fit.

Here are 5 players who can count themselves unlucky to have missed out:

Callum Chick (Newcastle)
Newcastle’s captain has been a colossus in a struggling team. Four years have passed since the back-row enforcer won his two England caps, and the wait goes on, despite some consistently excellent performances at the back of the pack as both a ball carrier and gain line stopper in defence. Chick says part of the motivation for his close-season move from the Falcons to Northampton was to further his Test ambitions, and only time will tell if that pays off.

Adam Radwan (Leicester)
The jet-heeled winger has had a new lease of life since his mid-season move from Newcastle to Leicester. Like his former Falcons teammate Chick, Radwan was last capped in 2021 and at 27 years of age will be keen to break back into the national team squad sooner rather than later. Has scored eight tries in eight appearances for the Tigers since making his club debut against Gloucester in January, including a hat-trick and a Player of the Match performance against Harlequins. You wonder what else he has to do.

Paul Brown-Bampoe (Exeter)
The shining light in an otherwise gloomy season for Exeter Chiefs. With his pace and power, the muscular Brown-Bampoe has scythed through defences all season and has not looked out of place in the most esteemed company despite being a relative rookie. Has been scoring tries for fun and was heavily tipped to get the nod for England, but his day will surely come in the not-too-distant future.

Jamie Blamire (Newcastle)
Much like Chick, the Leicester-bound hooker has had another standout season for Newcastle despite their troubles. A classy footballer who scores more than his fair share of tries, as well as doing the nuts and bolts of set-piece work well, Blamire finds himself stuck on seven England caps, the last of which was won against Wales on the eve of the 2023 World Cup.

Gabriel Ibitoye (Bristol)
One of the most entertaining players in the Premiership on his day, with his chaotic running lines and crazy offloads. However, since returning from injury, he has made some erratic decisions and has been at fault for gifting the opposition tries, which will have no doubt preyed on the mind of the largely risk-averse Borthwick.