England have called up the former South African U20 centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg to train with the national squad before the inaugural Nations Championship. The Bristol Bears midfielder has been picked ahead of the omitted Bath pair Ollie Lawrence and Max Ojomoh despite not being officially available for England until 8 July.
Janse van Rensburg will become eligible on residency grounds on the basis he has been in the UK for five years since joining his former club London Irish. This means he will not be available for England’s Test against the Springboks on 4 July, but could make a full debut against Fiji at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium the following weekend.
The 29-year-old, may also feature in a non-cap game against a France XV in Vannes on 19 June, assuming he makes a good impression in training. He did not have the best of nights in Northampton last Friday when Bristol suffered a record 94-33 defeat and were repeatedly cut apart by a rampant Saints backline.
The Rugby Football Union had to make a special appeal to World Rugby for dispensation to consider Janse van Rensburg, who played 21 minutes as a replacement for South Africa’s U20 side in 2016. This made him technically ineligible to qualify for England on residency grounds, until the RFU successfully argued that it was unfair for that brief appearance to bind him to South Africa in perpetuity.
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England training squad
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Forwards Jamie Blamire (Leicester), Ollie Chessum (Leicester), Arthur Clark (Gloucester), Alex Coles (Northampton), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Tom Curry (Sale), Theo Dan (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ellis Genge (Bristol), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton), George Martin (Leicester), Beno Obano (Bath), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale), Guy Pepper (Bath), Henry Pollock (Northampton), Vilikesa Sela (Bath), Kepu Tuipulotu (Bath)
Backs Seb Atkinson (Gloucester), Charlie Bracken (Saracens), Noah Caluori (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter), George Ford (Sale), Tommy Freeman (Northampton), George Furbank (Northampton), Benhard Janse van Rensburg (Bristol), Archie McParland (Northampton), Alex Mitchell (Northampton), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Adam Radwan (Leicester), Tom Roebuck (Sale), Henry Slade (Exeter), Fin Smith (Northampton), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath), Freddie Steward (Leicester), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester)
Steve Borthwick is clearly seeking fresh ways to inject momentum into his squad after the team’s fifth-placed finish in the Six Nations when England lost four of their five games. There are also call-ups for the impressive young Northampton scrum-half Archie McParland and Saracens’ fast-rising No 9 Charlie Bracken, along with a recall for the rapid Leicester wing Adam Radwan.
Radwan has nipped in ahead of the unfortunate Henry Arundell with Saracens’ Noah Caluori also included in a 42-man squad. Up front there are call-ups for the uncapped Bath front-row duo of Vilikesa Sela and Kepu Tuipulotu, prominent members of England’s U20 side who are now pushing for senior recognition. There may well be opportunities this summer with Borthwick understood to be considering resting some of his senior pros including the captain, Maro Itoje, for some or all of England’s July games.
As highlighted by the former England captain Martin Johnson, Clive Woodward’s England reaped the benefits of leaving out several leading players in the year before they lifted the trophy in 2003. Among those already unavailable for selection because of injury or rehabilitation are Fin Baxter, Ben Curry, Elliot Daly, Trevor Davison, Greg Fisilau, Will Muir, Bevan Rodd and Sam Underhill.