On Saturday afternoon, England and France will play an uncapped game to kick off their summer tours. This game represents an opportunity for coaches to evaluate a different set of players against good opposition without risking the usual consequences of a defeat to a big rival. It also gives more players the opportunity to put themselves in the forefront of their coach's mind for when selection decisions are made in the big games.
Team news
England XV and bench
1.Fin Baxter 2.Jamie George(CC) 3.Joe Heyes 4.Alex Coles 5.Nick Isiekwe
6.Ted Hil 7.Guy Pepper 8.Tom Willis 9.Ben Spencer 10.George Ford(CC)
11.Immanuel Feyi-Waboso 12.Seb Atkinson 13.Henry Slade 14.Tom Roebuck 15.Joe Carpenter
16.Theo Dan 17.Bevan Rodd 18.Trevor Davison 19.Chandler Cunningham-South
20.Jack Kenningham 21.Alex Dombrandt 22.Raffi Quirke 23.Oscar Beard
This is a stronger team than I was expecting for this kind of game; Steve Borthwick has selected several clear starters who will hopefully set a good foundation for those who are less experienced to acclimate to this level. The front row is the strongest that could have possibly been selected given that Genge and Stuart are away with the Lions. Baxter, George and Heyes are joined in the tight five by Alex Coles and Nick Isiekwe. It makes sense for Coles to start given that he has been excellent for Northampton and is the fourth man at this position when everyone is fit. He is a good squad player for his country so getting him more experience is crucial for Borthwick as he begins to look to 2027. Isiekwe being selected surprised me given that be is an experienced international and a largely known quantity whereas Arthur Clark has broken into the Gloucester team and starred. This seems like the perfect opportunity to give some experience to an exciting youngster like Clark but Borthwick clearly has different priorities. The back row is, in my opinion, the most enticing part of this line-up. Ted Hill deserves a proper shot at blindside flanker and this will be his biggest chance in an England journey so far. His club teammate, Guy Pepper, has also earned this chance and will need to make a mark on this tour given the depth he is up against.
In the backs, Ben Spencer is another player who needs to show up well. He is obviously an incredible player, but things haven't gone well with England. If he can finally translate his club for to the test arena, he will force himself into England's 23. At centre, Seb Atkinson gets the chance to be the power-player next to the experienced Henry Slade. In the back three, Feyi-Waboso returns from injury and will play on his less familiar wing to make space for Tom Roebuck. Roebuck's fellow shark, Joe Carpenter gets his much-deserved first start at fullback. He could definitely overtake Freddie Steward given his attacking skill and ability to make players miss. His style of play is also a more natural fit for this England side.
On the bench, Theo Dan seems to be a Borthwick favourite despite not making much of a difference at international level. He will come into the front row with Bevan Rodd and Joe Heyes who makes the team ahead of Opoku-Fordjour after he spent last week training with the Lions. There are three Harlequins back rows on the bench: Cunningham-South, Kenningham and Dombrandt all make the bench. It looks like England are continuing the Harlequins experiment of playing Cunningham-South in the second row - once again, ahead of Arthur Clark. Alex Dombrandt must be running out of time to establish himself in this arena but he gets another chance this weekend. Raffi Quirke will speed things up from the bench and Oscar Beard brings versatility to play on the wing and at outside centre.
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