Henry Trinder, Luther Burrell and Joel Tomkins are in line to make his England Test debut after being named in Stuart Lancaster’s England squad ahead of the QBE Autumn internationals.
The centres are three of four injury-forced changes to the England EPS squad with Exeter’s Tom Johnson also earning a call-up.
In the lead up to the announcement, Lancaster was left with only one fit centre in Billy Twelvtrees as Manu Tuilagi (torn pectoral muscle) and Brad Barritt (foot) were both ruled out.
Northampton’s Burrell and Saracens’ Tomkins have both impressed with their clubs since the start of the season and have been drafted from the Saxons squad but the surprise call comes from Trinder who comes straight into the EPS leaving Bath’s Jonathan Joseph in the Saxons squad.
Up front, Exeter’s Johnson replaces Tom Croft at blindside, the Lion superman being ruled out until the end of the season with a knee injury.
The players will assemble in Leeds next Monday for a camp before returning to their Surrey training base at Pennyhill Park on Sunday, October 27.
England kick off their campaingn against Australia at Twickenham on November 2 before taking on Argentina and New Zealand the following two weeks.
Lancaster said: “We have been looking forward to this QBE Internationals series ever since we got back from Argentina. As a coaching group we have watched a lot of rugby and we are pleased with the form of the squad. The camp is an important part of our preparation and we are looking forward to meeting up.
“Inevitably there have been some injuries and there is still a big European weekend ahead. But injures always create opportunities and we are pleased to call up Tom Johnson, Joel Tomkins, Henry Trinder and Luther Burrell into the Senior EPS, with Luther joining us as injury cover so it will be great for him to come in and put a marker down in what is going to be a competitive selection leading into the Australia game.
“We have three major Tests ahead of us and we are looking forward to the challenge.”
England EPS Squad
Forwards: David Attwood (Bath Rugby), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Corbisiero (Northampton Saints), Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), Matt Kvesic (Gloucester Rugby), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby), Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), David Wilson (Bath Rugby), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
Backs: Chris Ashton (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby), Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints), Danny Care (Harlequins), Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints), Kyle Eastmond (Bath Rugby), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers), Ben Foden (Northampton Saints), Alex Goode (Saracens), Henry Trinder (Gloucester Rugby), Joel Tomkins (Saracens), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby), Christian Wade (London Wasps), Marland Yarde (London Irish), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
Watch the video of the announcement below (courtesy of Nick Heath @rugbymedia)
