Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Charlie Bracken and Archie McParland have all been named in England’s training camp ahead of the inaugural Nations Championship.
Bristol centre Van Rensburg will complete his five-year eligibility period on July 8 – notably, four days after England’s opening match against South Africa – and is seen as a potentially key midfield option in the run up to the 2027 World Cup.
The Pretoria-born centre, who joined London Irish in 2021, will qualify through residency after the RFU successfully lobbied World Rugby to bring his eligibility date forward from November. He had previously made one substitute appearance for South Africa under-20s in 2016.
Bracken, son of former England scrum-half Kyran, has also been given his first call-up by Steve Borthwick and will join up with team-mates at the Performance Centre at Pennyhill Park until Wednesday.
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McParland made his Saints debut as a 17-year-old against London Irish in September 2022.
The squad also features an international return for highly-rated lock George Martin, who gets a call-up for the first time since February 2025 having suffered a combination of knee and shoulder injuries that had kept him out of action for 14 months.
Noah Caluori has scored five tries in a Premiership match on two occasions so far this season for Saracens
Winger Noah Caluori, who was previously selected in the squad for last autumn’s internationals, has scored tries for fun in all competitions this season for Saracens as well also playing in the Championship under dual registration for Ampthill.
Notable absentees from Borthwick’s selection include Bath pair Ollie Lawrence and Henry Arundell. The centre and winger have both been omitted on form rather than fitness.
Van Rensburg will be eligible after England’s opening Nations Championship fixture against his native country in Johannesburg on Saturday July 4 and could make his debut against Fiji at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday July 11.
England training squad ahead of Nations Championship
Forwards:
Jamie Blamire (Leicester Tigers), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints), George Martin (Leicester Tigers), Beno Obano (Bath Rugby), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints), Vilikesa Sela (Bath Rugby), Kepu Tuipulotu (Bath Rugby).
Backs:
Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Charlie Bracken (Saracens), Noah Caluori (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Benhard Janse van Rensburg (Bristol Bears), Archie McParland (Northampton Saints), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Adam Radwan (Leicester Tigers), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers).
Rehabilitation: Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks)
Not considered for selection: Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints), Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs), Will Muir (Bath Rugby), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby).
England’s Nations Championship fixtures
- Round One: July 4 – South Africa vs England
- Round Two : July 11 – Fiji vs England
- Round Three: July 18 – Argentina vs England
- Round Four: November 8 – England vs Australia
- Round Five: November 14 – England vs Japan
- Round Six: November 21 – England vs New Zealand
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
