Steve Borthwick names 14 uncapped players in 33-man England squad

England head coach Steve Borthwick has named 14 uncapped players in his 33-man England squad that will assemble for a two-day training camp at Pennyhill Park this week.

The squad will meet ahead of England XV’s fixture with France XV at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium on June 21, before two Tests against Argentina in July, followed by one against the USA.

With 13 of his players – all of whom featured in their last match against Wales in the Guinness Six Nations – away with the British and Irish Lions this summer, and Bath and Northampton Saints both featuring in European finals this weekend, the squad is bereft of some of its star names.

There is, nevertheless, plenty of experience remaining in the squad, including veterans Jamie George and George Ford, alongside seven uncapped forwards and seven uncapped backs.

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Among the uncapped forwards is former England U20 captain Emeka Ilione. The Leicester Tigers flanker, 23, has been rewarded for a string of fruitful cameos from the bench in recent weeks.

Ilione is one of only five players in the squad who have neither represented England’s senior side nor A outfit, alongside centres Seb Atkinson, Luke Northmore and Rekeiti Ma’asi-White and lock Joe Batley. Northmore has frequently been included in England senior squads under Borthwick and Eddie Jones, however, while Batley was due to feature for England A against Australia A last November.

Despite being out of action since December after undergoing an operation on his shoulder, Exeter Chiefs wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has been included in the squad. With a glut of wingers at his disposal, Borthwick has forgone in-form Tigers wing Adam Radwan, who had been tipped to make a return to the England set-up.

Lock George Martin and back-row Chandler Cunningham-South will join the camp to continue to rehab their injuries. Then again, had he been fit, Martin would have probably been linking up with his future Lions team-mates anyway rather than England, as the 23-year-old had been widely tipped to make Andy Farrell’s squad before succumbing to shoulder and knee injuries.

England’s 33-player training squad

Forwards:
Joe Batley (Bristol Bears)
Fin Baxter (Harlequins)
Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs)
Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)
Theo Dan (Saracens)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)
Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
Emeka Ilione (Leicester Tigers)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)
Jack Kenningham (Harlequins)
Gabriel Oghre (Bristol Bears)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks)
Tom Willis (Saracens)

Backs:
Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby)
Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby)
Oscar Beard (Harlequins)
Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks)
Tobias Elliott (Saracens)
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
George Ford (Sale Sharks)
Rekeiti Ma’asi-White (Sale Sharks)
Cadan Murley (Harlequins)
Luke Northmore (Harlequins)
Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears)
Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)