5 England Hopefuls Who Steve Borthwick Should Call-up after This Weekend

After Steve Borthwick named his first selected squad of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations, he lit a new fire in these five players who he left out. After a thrilling weekend of Heineken Champions Cup matches, here are the five England hopefuls who put their hands up for selection.

The Bristol Bears scrum half was a pivotal player in his sides 33-19 bonus point victory over Perpignan in the Challenge Cup. Randall brought Bristol's response to conceding an early try, as winger Ali Crossdale put the visitors ahead after 11 minutes.

Randall provided the ammunition, for Bristol's bruising forwards to carry hard at close range. The constant drives withered Perpignan's defensive structure, which Randall capitalised on, sniping round the back of a ruck to score a classic scrum halves try. Randall was electric across the pitch, never a stride behind the play for the 53 minutes he featured.

England vice-captain Ellis Genge scored two tries as Bristol secured a 33-19 bonus-point victory over Perpignan in the European Challenge Cup.

"He came out and played with a real zip and did well to find space to dive over after Perpignan took a shock lead. Then did brilliantly to chase down his own kick and force a turnover to pile the pressure on the visitors.

"The scrum-half then found Semi Radradra in a hole which led to Genge’s try and highlighted what he brings to this side when fit, bringing a real zip to their play."

In a similar circumstance to Blamire, Will Evans was overlooked after Borthwick selected Dave Ribbans to fill in for an injured Courtey Lawes. The Harlequins flanker stepped-up for contention this weekend, enduring a hard-hitting performance against, in the 39-29 victory over the Cell C Sharks.

Evans won the defensive battle for Harlequins, as he secured an astounding five turnovers. After battling injuries early in his Harlequins career, Evans has established himself as a main-stay at the Twickenham Stoop, with stand-out performances like this. He dominated a typically physical South African club side at the breakdown, fearlessly cleaning out threats on Quins ball, and winning the battles against-the-head.

A man of the match performance in the Quins quarters, Evans played all but eight minutes, as Tom Lawday replaced the flanker. If Evans can continue to replicate this form then an England call-up is in his near future, especially so with the intense Six Nations schedule, and heading into a World Cup campaign.

After another impressive performance at Sandy Park, Exeter's flying winger Jack Nowell has thrown his scrum cap in the ring for a re-calling to the England squad. Nowell scored Exeter's fifth try of the evening, and shone out wide throughout the bitterly cold clash with Castres.

In the 77th minute, Nowell collected a cross field kick from Harvey Skinner on the right hand side. He spun through the tackle attempt of Castres full-back Julien Dumora, before a stutter-step outwitted Theo Chabouni as the Cornishman dived his way over the try line.

The winger was among the try-scorers as Exeter overcame a slow start to beat French side Castres 40-3, and ensure they will play at home in the last 16 of the Heineken Champions Cup. England call-up Henry Slade started the Chiefs points scoring with a try and conversion, Nowell will hope to be joining his Chiefs teammate in Borthwick's Six Nations plans.

Val Rapava-Ruskin put in dominant performance, and was a definitive factor in Gloucester's 17-26 away victory over Bordeaux-Begles. Unmatched up front, the tight-head prop combined with uncapped England call-up George McGuigan to control the scrum, and score from powerful set-pieces.

Big Val's strength was on full display for Gloucester's opening try. His shunting drive helped force the visitors' rolling maul over the line, for hooker McGuigan to ground. Rapava-Ruskin outmatched his opposition throughout the contest in France, and supplied the scrummaging foundation for Albert Tuisue to pick from the back, and score Gloucester's second try.

Rapava-Ruskin battered his way through a subsequent rolling maul, with McGuigan again in-tow. The hooker grounded Gloucester's third score, yet the honor was taken away from him with the referee awarding a penalty try. Gloucester won crucial penalties at scrum-time, orchestrated by Rapava-Ruskin's efforts. George Barton's penalties kicked extra daylight between the two sides, for a significant away victory.

Jamie Blamire could not have picked a better weekend to show his set-piece strengths for Falcons. Borthwick is yet to have picked a single player from Newcastle in his Six Nations squad, which seemed to have added more fuel to Blamire's motivation for recognition. Tom Dunn replaces the injured McGuigan, but Blamire has certainly staked his claim for a call-up with his performance against Connacht.

Playing just over an hour in the Challenge Cup, Blamire presented his strength early on. Driving a rolling maul, which had to be halted by an overcommitted Connacht, presented space for scrum-half Michael Young to score. A second maul forced Connacht over their try-line, with Blamire's involvement proving crucial, as Matias Orlando grounded the try. An eventual 35-21 Newcastle victory, was down to the hard working forwards, with a noteable contribution from Blamire.