Sale Sharks: Josh Beaumont
he son of former England captain Bill, Josh made his debut for the club in January 2013 having joined on a dual registration deal with Fylde after a spell in the Newcastle Falcons academy. He was voted Players’ Player of the Year in 2014-15 and finally made his England debut in May of the same year after his first senior international call-up was cut short by an ill-timed shoulder injury. Beaumont has since gone on to rack up over 100 appearances for the Sharks and is consistently one of the first names on the team sheet.
Saracens: Richard Barrington
The prop is much-loved member of the Sarries squad due his likeable, jokey personality and enthusiasm – displayed in abundance in the changing room, leading the now-famous post-victory celebrations, videos of which have been viewed across the globe. On the pitch Barrington has developed into a fine scrummager and dependable asset. In his youth, the front rower was accustomed to life at blindside flanker before Hartpury College helped his transition to loosehead.
Wasps: Alex Rieder
He capped a memorable Wasps Premiership debut by being named man-of-the-match in his club’s first win at Northampton Saints’ Franklin’s Gardens home in nearly a decade. Rieder suffered the misfortune of suffering two serious injuries which wiped out most of his 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons – with 19 months separating two first-team appearances. On his return in September 2019, he scored against Saracens in the Premiership Rugby Cup.
Worcester Warriors: Ethan Waller
Waller moved to Sixways from Northampton Saints in the summer of 2017. Injury meant that he had to bide his time at the start of the 2018/19 season but he produced some eye-catching performances in the loose as well as helping to anchor the scrum since.