"66 into 33" - England players Steve Borthwick is considering for World Cup
Rugby NewsMonday, 20 February 2023 at 10:37
Steve Borthwick is currently keeping track of around 66 players before trimming the group to 33 for the Rugby World Cup later this year.
England have so far arranged three summer warm-up matches as part of their preparations for Rugby World Cup 2023.
The first match will see England take on Wales in Cardiff on Saturday 5th August, before hosting Wales in the return fixture at Twickenham the following weekend.
The final match in the series will see Fiji visit Twickenham on Saturday 26th August.
An additional away fixture is also expected to be arranged for the weekend of 19th/20th August.
- Wales v England: Principality Stadium, Cardiff. Saturday 5th August 2023. Kick-off: TBC
- England v Wales: Twickenham Stadium, London. Saturday 12th August 2023. Kick-off: TBC
- England v Fiji: Twickenham Stadium, London. Saturday 26th August 2023. Kick-off: TBC
Borthwick's men have been drawn in Pool D for Rugby World Cup 2023 – alongside Japan, Argentina, Samoa and Chile.
England will begin their RWC 2023 campaign against Argentina in Marseille on Saturday 9th September.
All kick-off times are shown in UK & Ireland time (with local time in brackets).
- England v Argentina: Stade Vélodrome, Marseille. Saturday 9th September 2023. Kick-off: 8:00pm (9:00pm local)
- England v Japan: Stade de Nice, Nice. Sunday 17th September 2023. Kick-off: 8:00pm (9:00pm local)
- England v Chile: Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille. Saturday 23rd September 2023. Kick-off: 4:45pm (5:45pm local)
- England v Samoa: Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille. Saturday 7th October 2023. Kick-off: 4:45pm (5:45pm local)
The Rugby World Cup quarter-finals will be played on the weekend of 14/15 October, with the semi-finals on 20/21 October and the final on Saturday, 28 October.
ENGLAND HOPEFULS:
BACK-THREE CONTENDERS:
Joe Cokanasiga (Bath)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
Jonny May (Gloucester)
Ollie Thorley (Gloucester)
Cadan Murley (Harlequins)
Henry Arundell (London Irish)
Anthony Watson (Leicester Tigers)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Adam Radwan (Newcastle Falcons)
Max Malins (Saracens)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints)
Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish)
CENTRE CONTENDERS:
Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks)
Dan Kelly (Leicester Tigers)
Guy Porter (Leicester Tigers)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Will Joseph (London Irish)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby)
FLY-HALF CONTENDERS:
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
Owen Farrell, Captain of England during the Six Nations Match between England and Italy at Twickenham, London on 12 Feb 2023 (Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)
George Ford (Sale Sharks)
SCRUM-HALF CONTENDERS:
Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Ben Youngs of England during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Australia at Twickenham on 13 November 2021. Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)
LOOSEHEAD-PROP CONTENDERS:
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Joe Marler of England Rugby during the Six Nations Championship match between England and Wales at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on February 26th 2021. - PHOTO: Phil Mingo/PPAUK
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
TIGHTHEAD-PROP CONTENDERS:
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears)
Kyle Sinckler of England during the Autumn International Series match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham, London on 19 November 2022 (Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby)
HOOKER CONTENDERS:
Jack Walker (Harlequins)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Jack Singleton (Gloucester)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
George McGuigan (Newcastle Falcons)
SECOND-ROW CONTENDERS:
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
Woodward wants Maro Itoje back in the second-row
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)
Joe Launchbury (Harlequins)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints(
Hugh Tizard (Saracens)
David Ribbans (Northampton Saints)
Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks)
FLANKER CONTENDERS:
Ben Earl (Saracens)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Tom Pearson (London Irish)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints)
Jack Willis (Toulouse)
NUMBER 8 CONTENDERS:
Callum Chick (Newcastle Falcons)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Billy Vunipola of England in possession ahead of Kazuki Himeno of Japan during the Autumn International Series match between England and Japan at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on Saturday 12th November 2022 | Photo: James Fearn/PPAUK.
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)
Alfie Barbeary (Bath)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)
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