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England head coach Eddie Jones has named a 44-man pre-season training squad to convene at the Lensbury Hotel from Saturday 4 August until Monday 6 August.
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Chris Ashton (Sale Sharks) is selected having returned to England this summer from playing in France with Toulon. The 31 year-old winger, who scored 19 tries in 39 Tests for England, last played international rugby in 2014.
England coaches will have a chance to look at a number of new or young players including Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins), Joel Kpoku (Saracens), Jordan Olowofela (Leicester Tigers) and Michael Rhodes (Saracens).
A number of players rested for the tour to South Africa were not considered for this camp but will be watched closely in the club season.
Eddie Jones said: “This is a pre-season camp so a lot of our players, particularly the ones who went on the South African tour, have just started training with their clubs so it’s just a chance to get a group of players together to have a chat about the season ahead and look at the important areas in developing the team. With just over 12 months until the Rugby World Cup, it is an important time.
“We haven’t selected everyone. There are a number of players we rested from the tour that we have allowed to continue their pre-season with their clubs.
“This camp is all about individual preparation, it’s about looking to see how we can help each of the players improve, how we can help with their selection for the national team because we have 44 players coming in plus another 15 who are strongly in contention for the Quilter Internationals in November.”
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On Ashton’s inclusion in the squad Jones said: “Chris is an exceptional player, I think we have seen with his form at Saracens, then at Toulon he has played exceedingly well. He’s come back to England because he wants to play for England so he has got the right desire, the right attitude so it will be good to work with him.”
With three England U20 players in Ibitoye, Kpoku and Olowofela,who featured in the recent World Rugby U20 Championship in France, named in the training squad Jones added: “It is an opportunity for them to show us what they have got. We have identified those guys who can potentially play for England in the future so this is a great opportunity for them.”
Jones added: “We have one day of training at this camp, a September camp, then a week before the South Africa game so every minute counts. We want to make sure we use every minute as productively as we can so that is the target of the camp.”
England’s next training camp will be Sunday 23 September until Tuesday 25 September in Bristol before joining up on Wednesday 24 October to prepare for the Quilter Internationals in November.
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England will play four matches in the upcoming Quilter Internationals against South Africa (3 November), New Zealand (10 November), Japan (17 November) and Australia (24 November). Kick off for all games will be 3pm live on Sky Sports HD.
Backs
Chris Ashton (Sale Sharks)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Danny Cipriani (Gloucester Rugby)
Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby)
Elliot Daly (Wasps)
Nathan Earle (Harlequins)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
Piers Francis (Northampton Saints)
Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins)
Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
Jonny May (Leicester Tigers)
Jordan Olowofela (Leicester Tigers)
Dan Robson (Wasps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Ben Spencer (Saracens)
Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Forwards
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
James Haskell (Northampton Saints)
Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs)
Paul Hill (Northampton Saints)
Nathan Hughes (Wasps)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
Joel Kpoku (Saracens)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Michael Rhodes (Saracens)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)
Jack Singleton (Worcester Warriors)
Will Spencer (Leicester Tigers)
Elliott Stooke (Bath Rugby)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)
Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)
Not considered for selection due to injury/ fitness/ other
Jack Clifford (Harlequins)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)
George Kruis (Saracens)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Brad Shields (Wasps)
Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks)
Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments