The five lower-league legends who played for England

The Wasps skipper looks set to be an international mainstay for years to come following a testing start to his rugby career. Harlequins decided not to offer Launchbury a professional contract at 18, the lock left Quins and joined the then National League 2 South side Worthing for the 2009–10 season. He then joined Wasps and the rest is history.

He played in National League One for Blaydon in National One after having spells with Penrith RUFC and Kendal RUFC. Despite initially struggling to make his makr for the Falcons he eventually made the number six shirt his own. As a result of a string of find performances, in May 2017 he was invited to a training camp with the senior England squad by Eddie Jones and made his debut in the 1st summer test against Argentina. He's since won 17 caps, scoring one try.

Making his International debut against Italy in the 2007 Six Nations, Easter spent a majority of his playing career at Harlequins where he represented the club 281 times over 12 years. The robust number 8 started his career at Orrell from 2001-2004. He became the first England No.8 to score four tries in a single match when he played against Wales in a World Cup warm-up in 2007.

The scrum-half started his career at Dudley Kingswinford in the fourth tier of English rugby. His exploits saw him be picked up by another Midlands team, Coventry in 2003, whom he played for in National Division One for two seasons before joining Bristol. He then went onto make his England debut during the 2006 Autumn Internationals.

Coming through the ranks at Fylde RFC, a club made famous by the ex-England captain and World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont, the tighthead made quite the impression. He earned a move to Newcastle Falcons and made his England debut in 2014. Since making his senior debut for England in that tour, Brookes has taken to the field for England 16 times.