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Five Test players named in England A team, including Charlie Ewels
England have named an A team to take Portugal this Sunday in Leicester that includes eight players – including skipper Charlie Ewels – who have been training with Steve Borthwick’s senior team in recent weeks.
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Along with Max Ojomoh, Harry Randall and Joe Heyes, Ewels was one of four players added to George Skivington’s A squad on Tuesday evening following two days of training at Pennyhill with the senior squad ahead of their game against Scotland in the Guinness Six Nations.
They were joined at Loughborough University by Oscar Beard, Will Muir, Jamie Blamire and Tom Pearson, another quartet with Six Nations training involvement this month.
Skipper Ewels, who is one of five Test-capped players in the A team, is the sole link with the last England side that played at this level eight years ago as he was a starting lock when the then-named Saxons defeated South Africa A in George in 2016.
Aside from Ewels, the other four Test players in Sunday’s starting XV are Randall, Blamire, Heyes and Pearson. Of the match day 23 for the Mattioli Woods Welford Road fixture, 17 have come through the RFU men’s pathway system with caps at either England U18 or U20 age-grade level.
"We have a duty…"
– RFU director Conor O'Shea on why England must proactively help tier two countries like Portugal, who are coming to Leicester next weekend. #EnglandRugby #ENGvPOR pic.twitter.com/NuwRM2xRLE
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 18, 2024
Head coach Skivington said: “It’s been great to get together with the group this week at Loughborough and I have been really impressed by the high standards they have shown. We have put the boys through a challenging programme that has tested them to the intense rigor that Portugal will arrive with on Sunday.
“Our visitors are in the midst of the Rugby Europe Championship and will no doubt be using Sunday as an opportunity to experiment, but their strength as a union has been evident recently. They will certainly provide a stern test for us, but it’s a test that the players and the coaching staff are relishing.
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“I’m really excited to see the side take to the field against Portugal on Sunday. I really believe we have assembled a squad that possesses some of the most exciting developing talent the Gallagher Premiership has to offer, and I’m sure they’ll put on a show for the fans in Leicester.”
England (vs Portugal, Sunday)
15. Josh Hodge (Exeter Chiefs, Vale of Lune RUFC)
14. Cadan Murley (Harlequins, Wadebridge Camels RFC)
13. Oscar Beard (Harlequins, Farnham RUFC)
12. Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby, Chippenham RFC)
11. Will Muir (Bath Rugby, Guisborough RUFC)
10. Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby, Oxford RFC)
9. Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, Tycroes RFC, 6 caps)
1. Fin Baxter (Harlequins, Cobham RFC)
2. Jamie Blamire (Newcastle Falcons, Seaton Rangers ARLFC, 7 caps)
3. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, Nottingham Moderns RFC & Newark RFC, 7 caps)
4. Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs, Devonport Services RFC)
5. Charlie Ewels (capt) (Bath Rugby, Bournemouth Rugby, 30 caps)
6. Tom Pearson (Northampton Saints, Bromyard Rugby Club, 1 cap)
7. Guy Pepper (Newcastle Falcons, Barnard Castle Rugby Club)
8. Alfie Barbeary (Bath Rugby, Banbury RUFC)
Replacements:
16. Sam Riley (Harlequins, Chobham RFC)
17. Tarek Haffar (Northampton Saints, Grasshoppers RFC)
18. Josh Iosefa-Scott (Exeter Chiefs, Melville Rugby)
19. Ben Bamber (Sale Sharks, Langworthy Reds ARLFC)
20. Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs, Devonport Services RFC)
21. Caolan Englefield (Gloucester Rugby, Old Rutlishians Rugby)
22. Jamie Shillcock (Leicester Tigers, Southam RUFC)
23. Oliver Hartley (Saracens, Hammersmith and Fulham Rugby Club)
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments