England Rugby senior men’s head coach Steve Borthwick has named Sharks quartet Tom Curry, George Ford, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Asher Opoku-Fordjour in a 36-player squad for the inaugural Nations Championship.
The squad, which also includes five uncapped players – Noah Caluori, Greg Fisilau, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, George Kloska and Vilikesa Sela – is captained by Jamie George and will train at England’s Performance Centreat Pennyhill Park until Wednesday before departing for South Africa, where they begin their campaign against the Springboks at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, on Saturday 4 July.
England will then return for an ‘away’ fixture against Fiji at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpoolbefore travelling to Argentina to face Los Pumas at Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero in Round 3.
All matches will be broadcast live on ITV Sport.
“We’ve selected a squad with a good blend of experience and emerging talent,” said Borthwick.
“The Nations Championship presents an exciting challenge for this group. We will face strong opposition in demanding environments, with extensive travel, and changes in climate all testing the squad throughout the tournament.
“I am sure by preparing well and continuing to demand the highest standards from one another every day, we will be well placed to meet the challenge of a very demanding summer schedule.”
Nations Championship squad:
Forwards:
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers)
Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby)
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Theo Dan (Saracens)
Ben Earl (Saracens)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)
Jamie George (Saracens) – captain
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
Ted Hill (Bath Rugby)
George Kloska (Bristol Bears)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers)
Beno Obano (Bath Rugby)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)
Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby)
Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)
Vilikesa Sela (Bath Rugby)
Backs:
Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby)
Noah Caluori (Saracens)
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
George Ford (Sale Sharks)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints)
Benhard Janse van Rensburg (Bristol Bears)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints)
Cadan Murley (Harlequins)
Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)
