Steve Borthwick has named his 36-man squad for the 2024 Summer Tour of Japan and New Zealand, with six uncapped players and a returning former captain called up for the trip. There are some notable talking points following the England head coach’s squad announcement, and Borthwick backed up his decisions following today’s press conference at Twickenham Stadium.
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.
England’s 36-player Summer Series 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)
5 TALKING POINTS: STEVE BORTHWICK’S PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER NAMING ENGLAND’S SUMMER SERIES SQUAD
1. TOM CURRY RETURNS TO ENGLAND DUTY AFTER SEVEN MONTHS ON INJURY SHELF
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.”
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