Martin Johnson’s son gets first England Six Nations call-up

The camp is designed to support the continued development of age-grade players within a senior professional setting, as England intensify their preparations for the 2026 U18 Six Nations Festival, which is due to be held in April.

Charlie Bray, Henry Johnson, Zac Jones and Aiden Reid return to Pendlebury’s set-up this month, while Georgia Faosiliva, Archie Guyver and Oli Hewitt have earned their first call-ups to an England U18 Men’s camp.

Johnson is the son of England legend Martin Johnson, the former captain who led England to Rugby World Cup glory in 2003 and is widely regarded as one of the country’s greatest ever forwards.

Bray and Reid are among the 17 previously capped players included in the squad for this weekend.

After the conclusion of the PREM Next Gen Academy League and the RFU ACE Boys League, England U18 Men will meet again on 25 February ahead of a preparation fixture against France at Chinnor RFC on Saturday 14 March (14:00 GMT).

Seva Batikora (Leicester Tigers, Brooksby College, 2 caps)

Kwame Bekoe (Leicester Tigers, Norwich School, 3 caps)

Charlie Bray (Sale Sharks, Kirkham Grammar School, 4 caps)

Fin Charles (Leicester Tigers, Denstone College, uncapped)

Tom Dargan (Saracens, Harrow School, uncapped)

Josh De Waal (Gloucester Rugby, St Edwards School Oxford, uncapped)

Tiane Elone (Saracens, Mill Hill School, uncapped)  

Georgia Faosiliva (Bath Rugby, Hartpury College, uncapped)

Jordan Ikeh (Sale Sharks, Stockport Grammar, 3 caps)

Henry Johnson (Leicester Tigers, Oakham School, uncapped)

Freddie Jones (Saracens, Sutton Valence School, 2 caps)

Ben Koolen (Gloucester Rugby, Bloxham School, uncapped)

Kajetan Lewandowski (Leicester Tigers, Brooksby College, uncapped)

Jack Lewis (Northampton Saints, Northampton School for Boys, 5 caps)

Euan Oakes (Newcastle Red Bulls, Gosforth Academy, uncapped)

Lawrence Ogbonnaya (Sale Sharks, Kirkham Grammar School, 3 caps)

Aiden Reid (Northampton Saints, Northampton School for Boys, 3 caps)

Charles Rotimi (Saracens, Campion School, uncapped)

Teddy Smith-Milne (Gloucester Rugby, Clifton College, uncapped)

Mawgan Talling (Exeter Chiefs, Exeter College, uncapped)

George Tonga'uhia (Northampton Saints, uncapped)

Harry Westlake (Exeter Chiefs, Ivybridge Community College, uncapped)

Ellis Woolrych (Harlequins, St John’s School Leatherhead, uncapped)

Will Bayston (Sale Sharks, Sedbergh School, 2 caps)

Charlie Bosanko (Exeter Chiefs, Exeter College, uncapped)

Ajay Edwards (Newcastle Red Bulls, Durham School, 3 caps)

Sonny Goode (Northampton Saints, Bloxham School, 2 caps)

Archie Guyver (Exeter Chiefs, Exeter College, uncapped)

Oli Hewitt (Gloucester Rugby, Bromsgrove School, uncapped)

Max Hooper (Bath Rugby, Beechen Cliff School, uncapped)

Zac Jones (Saracens, Mill Hill, uncapped)

Samuel Marshall (Harlequins, Whitgift School, uncapped)

Will Moore (Bristol Bears Clifton College, uncapped)

Ollie Myall (Leicester Tigers, Oxford College, uncapped)

Caspar Reeves (Bristol Bears, Taunton School, uncapped)

Hugh Shields (Northampton Saints, Northampton School for Boys, 5 caps)

Oscar Talbot (Leicester Tigers, Rugby School, 6 caps)

Charlie Tamani (Northampton Saints, Finborough School, 7 caps)

James Townsend (Leicester Tigers, Warwick School, 6 caps)

Declan Treacey (Bath Rugby, Beechen Cliff School, 7 caps)

Jack Tyler (Harlequins, Cardinal Newman, uncapped)

Kai Wilkinson (Gloucester Rugby, St Edwards School Oxford, uncapped)

Krystof Wood (Gloucester Rugby, Bromsgrove School, 2 caps) 

RUCK writers Charlie Elliott and Harry Tovey are reporting live from the ground, bringing you real-time score updates, confirmed line-ups, key moments, atmosphere and full-time reaction from this must-watch 2026 Six Nations fixture.

Martin Johnson comes from a sporting family. His great-grandfather was a wrestler. His younger brother Will is also a former back row forward for Leicester. 

Johnson briefly played American football for the Leicester Panthers as a tight end or defensive end.

In 1989 he was approached by former All Black Colin Meads to try out for the King Country side in New Zealand. Johnson's trial run was successful and he played two seasons for King Country

In 1990 he was even selected for the New Zealand under-21 side which went on a tour of Australia playing a side that included another of the all-time great lock forwards, John Eales.

Working in a nuts and bolts factory as a schoolboy in the summer holidays. I had a massive machine that I used to put nuts and bolts in. It was during the shutdown, so there was just a skeleton staff covering. I had this machine all to myself and I didn’t break it either.

“Would the owner of the Volvo, registration blah blah, please move it, you’re blocking the ambulance.” At which point their tighthead, Gary Halpin, went “That’s my car!” and left us there for three minutes while he went to sort it out.

Johnson was awarded an OBE by The Queen in 1997, he was later honoured with a CBE in the aftermath of England's Rugby World Cup triumph in 2003.

His remarkable play and leadership helped England win the World Cup in 2003. He also led the Leicester Tigers to six league titles and consecutive Heineken Cups.

"I’m setting the table for five. Napoleon and Wellington. That would be interesting. They only fought each other once and a lot of people say it was a score draw – it certainly wasn’t. I’d have Julius Caesar in there as well. Leonardo da Vinci. And Eddy Merckx, one of my sporting heroes.

The legend loves biscuits, especially ginger nuts at first dibble.

Johnson's testimonial match and farewell to competitive rugby, held at Twickenham on 4 June 2005, was one of the biggest rugby events of the year. It was historic in another way as the match marked the return of All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu after a recent kidney transplant. Johnson's XV defeated Lomu's 33–29