Alex Coles and Asher Opoku-Fordjour are among five England players to be awarded an enhanced contract by the RFU for the first time.
The forwards are included in the 25-player list for the 2026/27 season along with fellow debut recipients George Martin, Guy Pepper and Jack van Poortvliet.
Lock Coles has impressed for Northampton Saints and has been a mainstay in England’s side for the last 12 months. picking up 22 Test caps across his career so far.
Opoku-Fordjour, meanwhile, has become a formidable prop at just 22 years of age with eight Test caps to his name.
Their inclusions mean Ben Curry, Elliot Daly, Ollie Lawrence, Tom Roebuck and Tom Willis no longer have enhanced Elite Player Squad (EPS) contracts.
The contracts give England final say over the players’ care and conditioning, and replace individual match fees with a fixed annual salary.
England Men’s enhanced EPS contracts:
Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby)
Fin Baxter (Harlequins)
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Ben Earl (Saracens)
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
George Ford (Sale Sharks)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
George Furbank (Harlequins)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
George Martin (Saracens)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)
Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby)
Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)
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