England have named five capped internationals in their ‘A’ squad to face Portugal on 25th February.
Jamie Blamire, Nick Isiekwe, Tom Pearson, Harry Randall and Ollie Hassell-Collins – who between them have 27 caps – join a set of young players from a range of clubs who will be hoping to impress at Welford Road.
Greg Fisilau, Sam Harris and Reketi Ma’asi-White are just some of the players named in the squad who have featured in The Rugby Paper’s Young Guns column in the last 18 months, with 21 of the 27-man squad having received caps at either U18 or U20 level in England’s pathway system.
England boss Steve Borthwick, in consultation with the three-man England A coaching team headed up by George Skivington and RFU director of rugby performance Conor O’Shea, was happy to pick a squad he believes will be playing for the main team soon.
“We’re delighted to see the return of A Team rugby as such an important part of our rugby’s development and to announce the squad for the forthcoming fixture against Portugal,” Borthwick said.
“We have got a lot of talented and exciting young players in England, and this is a great opportunity for them to show they can play international rugby. We have selected players in this initial squad who we believe have the potential to be in the England team in the very near future.
“One of the very important aspects of this A Team is to provide a platform for players who have come out of the Under 20s and who are playing club rugby, allowing them to experience the international environment.”
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