England Rugby Provisional Elite Player Squad - Ruck

England Rugby Provisional Elite Player Squad

  • Wasps’ Fiji-born back-row forward Nathan Hughes has been named in a provisional 45-man England elite player squad for a pre-season camp
  • Leicester hooker Tom Youngs is recalled to the England set-up.
  • Luther Burrell, Chris Ashton and Danny Cipriani are notable omissions.
England Head Coach Eddie Jones has announced a provisional 45-man elite player squad (EPS) for England’s pre-season training camp in August.

Jones has named a number of uncapped players to attend the camp. Mike Williams (Leicester Tigers) and Nathan Hughes (Wasps) are included for the first time while Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins) and Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors) have all previously spent time with England.


45 man provisional EPS for England’s August training camp
Forwards: Josh Beaumont, Dan Cole, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Clifford, Will Evans, Charlie Ewels, Jamie George, Ellis Genge, Teimana Harrison, Dylan Hartley, James Haskell, Paul Hill, Nathan Hughes, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Joe Marler, Matt Mullan, Chris Robshaw, Kyle Sinckler, Billy Vunipola, Mako Vunipola, Mike Williams, Tom Youngs
Backs: Mike Brown, Danny Care, Elliot Daly, Owen Farrell, George Ford, Alex Goode, Mike Haley, Jonathan Joseph, Joe Marchant, Jonny May, Jack Nowell, Dan Robson, Semesa Rokoduguni, Joe Simpson, Henry Slade, Ben Te’o, Manu Tuilagi, Anthony Watson, Marland Yarde, Ben Youngs

“This camp sets the scene for November,” said Jones. “It’s important to catch-up with the players prior to the start of the season and continue to put our plans in place.

“We’ll use this time to reset and review each player’s goals so they’re clear on what is expected of them between now and when we meet up again in October. It also gives us an opportunity to meet and assess some new players and ensure they are familiar with the England setup.

“The long-term strategy for England is to develop a side who can be the most dominant team in world rugby, so we’ve chosen a number of new faces to attend this camp on the form they have shown recently or the potential we see in them.

“There will always be opportunities for anyone playing consistently well in the Premiership at the start of the season to force their way into the EPS – the door is always open. Naturally players not included in this pre-season camp will be disappointed, but consistent high-level performances can change this.”



England sealed a 3-0 whitewash of Australia in June and are now the second-ranked team in world rugby, however, Jones is expecting a “huge challenge” from their next opponents at Twickenham – South Africa.

“England has not beaten South Africa since 2006 and we’ve lost our last five games against the Springboks at Twickenham,” said Jones. “Not a single player who will attend the pre-season camp has played in a side that has ever beaten South Africa.

“While we acknowledge that we’re moving in the right direction we also recognise that defeat is never far away. It’s important the players all keep trying to improve and push themselves to reach new standards in their game. We cannot afford to have any complacency in our approach to this Test.”


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