"Tom is in Fantastic Condition" - 5 Talking Points: Steve Borthwick England Squad Announcement for Summer Tour

The squad will assemble tomorrow for a training session at Twickenham, before they jet off to Tokyo on Wednesday. The Summer Series has long been a valuable proving ground for England players, with the exhibition test matches often witnessing debut caps for the up and coming talents. Borthwick could award six uncapped players their maiden England run-out with the likes of Harlequins prop Fin Baxter and Premiership winning Northampton wing Ollie Sleightholme called up to the travelling group.

Tom Curry also returns to the England squad, with the Sale Sharks man eager for his first England cap since the Rugby World Cup Bronze Final win over Argentina. Curry then sat out the majority of the latest Premiership season, making his one and only appearence for the Sharks in the play off semi-final defeat to Bath. Curry has battled back from injury, and despite only making 34 on field minutes this season, has earned the call up to the England squad.

Forwards:
Fin Baxter (Harlequins, uncapped)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 112 caps)
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)
Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 4 caps)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 5 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 50 caps)
Theo Dan (Saracens, 12 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 17 caps)
Ben Earl (Saracens, 30 caps)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 30 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 90 caps) – captain
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 7 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 81 caps)
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 93 caps)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 12 caps)
Gabriel Oghre (Bristol Bears, uncapped)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 5 caps)
Ethan Roots (Exeter Chiefs, 4 caps)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 38 caps)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 35 caps)

Backs:
Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks, uncapped)
Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 8 caps)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 9 caps)
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 24 caps)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 15 caps)
Luke Northmore (Harlequins, uncapped)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 6 caps)
Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks, uncapped)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 62 caps)
Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 32 caps)
Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby, 5 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 33 caps)

Former England captain Tom Curry has been recalled to the squad, after his seven month wait for on-field action came to an end. Curry required hip surgery this season, but has been given the all clear to compete against Japan and New Zealand.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "Firstly, Tom is a world class player. Anybody who watched the semi-final when he came off the bench and played that last 35 minutes of the game will have seen the impact he had.The respective medical and strength and conditioning with Sale and England have been liaising around Tom for a long period, as you would expect. Every report I have says Tom is in fantastic physical condition.

"I saw last week how energised he was. Most importantly was the conversation I had with Tom. We spoke about this series and this is a player who is desperate to be a part of this England team and wants to play in these games. Because of that and the fact he's world class, it was a very straight forward decision."

"The medical teams have been very supportive. And the medical team at Sale have been given us clear indications throughout the rehab and been clear that we have been liaising and understanding exactly where Tom is at and understood many weeks ago that he was looking good to be able to finish the season at his club and then come and be part of the England squad this summer."

"Player welfare is vital to us and every report I've got from the people who understand the injuries and the knocks these people take far better than I do tell me that Tom is in fantastic condition."

The news of George Ford's withdrawal from the England tour broke yesterday, with the fly half staying at home to recover from an Achilles injury. With the Sale man not on the plane for Japan or New Zealand, Borthwick has named Fin & Marcus Smith as the fly half options, along with cover from versatile backs George Furbank and Henry Slade.

STEVE BORTHWICK: We've picked two specialist fly-halves in Marcus and Fin. They are two world class fly-halves.We also have players who can support them, George Furbank has played plenty of minutes at fly-half, as well as Henry Slade.

"We're disappointed George (Ford) is unavailable for selection for this series. I expect him to be fit at the start of next season. He should recover from the injury throughout this summer. Any injury to a player is an opportunity for another player. I expect Marcus and Fin to seize the opportunity by producing winning performances."

"Now, clearly normally I am carrying three fly-halves in the squad, we carried three fly-halves in the World Cup, three fly-halves during the Six Nations. Now this one there’s only two specialist position fly-halves. Clearly that gives them more space.

"I started George Ford in all five of the Six Nations games, clearly there is an opportunity for a different starting fly-half, going to be playing against Japan in 12 days’ time, the opportunity is there for that fly-half to really grab this team and take it forward.

"Always being supported by the other fly-half – that is a key element. You need depth of players and Marcus’s ability… be clear… Marcus is a 10 who can play 15. That gives the ability that potentially there is a situation where Fin and Marcus are on the pitch together.”

Ellis Genge also withdrew from the Summer plans, after he tore his left calf on the final fixture of Bristol Bears' Premiership season. The former England captain joins Ford amongst the injury reserved list, with the vice-captaincy opening up for numerous players on the upcoming tour.

STEVE BORTHWICK: “I am a believer you need a group of leaders, it is never simply down to one person. It just can’t be. It’s up to a group. Maro Itoje is a key leader within our group, we have seen Ben Earl’s emergence as a senior leader.

"You see Tom Curry back in the squad. Then there are others throughout the squad, you don’t need to give Dan Cole or Joe Marler any formal leadership title: they lead. You have seen the way Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Marcus Smith have led their teams. So we are blessed we have a number of real… a depth of leaders within our group.”

"One thing that has struck me when I have conversations with Joe Marler, Dan Cole, Jamie George… Maro Itoje I am well aware is a bit younger, but he’s very experienced. The excitement they have to be involved now and to go on this series to different countries in two different hemispheres, it rubs off on everybody else. It rubs off on me, and all the coaches.

Jamie in camp last week was excellent in helping galvanise a new group together, and that’s one of his greatest strengths – he glues people together.”

The 2024 Premiership Final had significant implications upon the England Summer tour squad, with Bath prop Beno Obano suspended following the red card. Northampton hooker Curtis Langdon also misses out, after the front row picked up an injury in last weekend's final.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "Curtis Langdon went off with a stinger injury (in the Premiership Final), he was very much in contention for selection. He had some weakness post-game and the next morning, but we don’t think it’s a long-term injury, we expect him to recover within a short period of time.He was one who was in contention for selection. Today from both a medical and a disciplinary point of view, I wanted to make sure this selection was definitive.

"The squad meets this afternoon, we train tomorrow morning, we fly Wednesday morning. This is a squad that’s coming together in a couple of hours’ time, and I want to start our preparation straight away.

"Both (Curtis Langdon and Beno Obano) very were much in the frame, and subsequent to recovery from injury and disciplinary processes, they are players that are considered to go on a standby list. I’ll always notify players who are the players I’m going to be looking to to call up should we need to call players out. And subsequent to situations, those two players are potentials for that list."

"When I talk to the players a lot about performing in the test match environment, and you’ll hear me talking about test match animals - playing in the biggest stadiums, the biggest noises and atmospheres, the consequences for each action being enormous. And able to perform, do the right thing at the right time.

"I thought Saturday, playing in the Premiership Final at a sold out Twickenham, 82,000 people, in a game that was so tight, it’s a brilliant stepping stone towards test rugby. Nothing replicates test rugby. It’s called test rugby for a reason, it’s a proper test.

"I thought Saturday was an arm wrestle of a game where two teams have tried to find a way to win. I thought some of the players really shone. I think if you looked at that game in particular, we’ve talked about Fin (Smith), Sam Underhill - his performance in a 14-man effort, I thought he was in terms of his defensive effort in terms of his tackle and at the breakdown, I thought he was exceptional.

"Ben Spencer we spoke about, and you also look at those Northampton players and the impact that they have. The pace, one little bit of space and their ability to finish. Ollie Sleightholme is an example, Alex Mitchell, being able to just find any gap and he’s away. I thought in many ways it was a great game to replicate a stepping stone, towards the series.

5. UNCAPPED PLAYERS CALLED UP - SLEIGHTHOLME & ROEBUCK EXCITING PROSPECTS

Steve Borthwick named six uncapped players in his squad, with Ollie Sleightholme called up after ending the premiership season as the league's top try scorer. Tom Roebuck also gets the nod, with the Sale Sharks man hoping to build on his Six Nations squad involvement from earlier this year.

STEVE BORTHWICK: As you look at them, Tom Roebuck is a player who was part of that Six Nations squad, who was chomping at the bit for an opportunity in the matchday 23. He didn’t get that during the Six Nations, and was disappointed but still so eager to perform in training. I would say his post-Six Nations return to club, his game’s taken another step forward.He’s another player who I’m excited about what he can achieve in the future.

"You mention Ollie Sleightholme, clearly his point of difference is to beat defenders and find the tryline. The top try-scorer in the Premiership, has incredible pace and we want that in this England team.

"I’ve spoken to him several times throughout the season. we can talk a lot about what he does in the attacking side, he’s beaten such a huge number of defenders, and clearly I want people who have that point of difference of scoring tries.The other thing is he’s a very effective defender.You can see how important this defensive system has been to us, over just five games in the Six Nations. We see him fitting into that system very, very well."