Seven players will make their first senior starts for England against the Sudamerica XV in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Sunday (19:30 BST – British Summer Time; 20:30 South African Time).
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‘Cookie’s a big b*****d,’ Telfer bellows. ‘He thinks he’s tough, OK. Drive him back into the bloody Tweed.’ His young charges do their best to obey against the accompaniment of the coach, who is now transported into a state of quasi-psychotic frenzy, shouting the mantra ‘low, low, low’.
James Haskell and Ben Morgan have both been included in the squad for the first time this autumn. London Irish centre Jonathan Joseph has taken Sharples’ place in the squad after shaking off an ankle injury.
For what it’s worth I thought it would be interesting to see which team had the best tour. This could be difficult as each team faced different opponents and some had midweek games while others didn’t. To try and take away any bias and subjectivity we have a look at the results as well as the comparative rankings of the teams according to the IRB.
We now feature a forward, England flanker Tom Johnson. The other difference is that by now Johnson has actually played two tests for England, against South Africa.
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Rob Webber will captain England for the first time in Sunday’s game against the Barbarians at Twickenham. The Bath hooker leads a youthful side which has nine players aged 24 or under in the starting XV and sees Matt Kvesic and Marland Yarde make their debuts.
The snow is deep and crisp and dangerously uneven by health and safety standards, and Jim Telfer is barking out instructions like a rugby regimental sergeant major.
Scotland award a debut to wing Sean Maitland, give a first start in six years to his Glasgow Warriors team-mate Dougie Hall at hooker and recall No 8 Johnnie Beattie in their team for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations Championship opener against England at Twickenham.
Andy Farrell has called on his “fearless” young England side to record a significant milestone in their development by beating world champions New Zealand on Saturday.
England have dropped Thomas Waldrom, Tom Johnson and Charlie Sharples for Saturday’s Test against South Africa at Twickenham. Forward Joe Marler is also out after straining medial ligaments in his knee in the 20-14 defeat against Australia.
England wing Chris Ashton has been suspended for the start of his country’s November Tests.
England pair Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes are doubts for the November Tests after suffering knee injuries in Northampton’s defeat by Saracens.
Flanker Steffon Armitage’s form justifies a place in head coach Stuart Lancaster’s England squad, according to Toulon team-mate Jonny Wilkinson.
Former UK Sport Performance Director Peter Keen and British and Irish Lions legend Ian McGeechan have joined up to work with the RFU to ensure England’s success at the highest level.
England Prop Matt Stevens has announced that he has decided to stand down from International Rugby with immediate effect.
The Southern Hemisphere tours of the Home nations and Ireland are well and truly over by now with almost all of the players from these teams now able to put their feet up for a bit of rest and recuperation after what has been a very long season.
Port Elizabeth – Alex Goode and Thomas Waldrom will make their first starts for England in the third and final Test against South Africa after coach Stuart Lancaster named a side containing six changes on Thursday.
This is the third article in our series looking at players from the northern hemisphere who may be lesser known on the international stage. Previously we looked at two wingers, Harry Robinson and Tim Visser, who at that time had yet to start an official test for their country. 