RFU confirm 17 England players have been awarded Elite Player Squad contracts

The introduction of the contracts, which form part of the newly created Men’s Professional Game Partnership (MPGP) announced in September, allows Borthwick to have the final say on all sports science and medical matters relating to the players, and will help ensure the best possible preparation for the England Men’s team. 

Head coach Steve Borthwick stated, “I am delighted to be in a position to name the 17 players who are first to receive the enhanced EPS contracts. I am confident that these contracts, and our strong relationship with the Premiership clubs, will play a significant role in England Rugby’s continued development.”

Whether the players were brought in as injury cover and shone in the circumstances, or a head coach gambled on an in-form youngster to make their debut, bolters often add the exciting element of surprise to the biggest Test matches. With the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia now just eight months away, the calibre of player that qualifies as a bolter is at an all time high.

With Lions head coach Andy Farrell given the choice of the best players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, some established national team stars have dropped down to bolter status for the upcoming tour. Throw in the possibility of international returns for overseas players, and the pecking order is instantly overturned, as the likes of Owen Farrell, Jack Willis and Henry Arundell become available to tour 'down under'.

We've scanned across the England team and the wider Premiership landscape, to come up with five players that could be considered as bolters for the upcoming British & Irish Lions tour to Australia. With such fierce competition for places, there are some high profile England players on this list, as well as a currently uncapped hopeful that could earn their Test debut in the famous red jersey.

Despite being recently nailed on as the starting fullback for Steve Borthwick's England team, George Furbank faces a considerable amount of competition for a place upon the British & Irish Lions tour. Due to the limited numbers of players allowed on the tour, Furbank is jostling for a seat on the plane as one of just two possible fullback options.

For the 2021 Lions tour to South Africa, head coach Warren Gatland took Scotland's Stuart Hogg and Wales' Liam Williams as the specified fullbacks. Furbank is already competing against Williams for a place in Australia, as well as Lions legend Leigh Halfpenny, who is ageing like a fine wine at Harlequins. Throw in Ireland's resident Olympian Hugo Keenan and Toulouse's Champions Cup winner Blair Kinghorn as Scotland's contribution, and the odds start to become stacked against the Northampton captain.

Further complicating matters for Furbank is the possibility of Owen Farrell's return to the Test match stage, and the butterfly effect this could have upon his chances. Should the former England captain return to international rugby, Marcus Smith's chances of a run in the 10 jersey drastically go down, and Smith could well shift across to fullback for the Lions tour.

Smith has proven his ability in the 15 shirt with England at the Rugby World Cup, and more recently ran in two tries from fullback against Furbank's Saints, as Harlequins took on Northampton in a recent Premiership meeting. This would further reduce Furbank's chances of a Lions inclusion, despite his status as an England regular.

However, like Smith, Furbank's versatility in both the 15 and 10 shirt plays to his favour for a Lions call-up. The 28-year-old has led the back-line in green, black and gold on 14 occasions, and could provide injury cover in the 10 jersey for a mid-week match against one of Australia's Super Rugby franchises. Overall, Furbank faces difficult odds for a place on the plane, but we expect the Premiership champion to take this in his stride with leading performances for England and the Saints in the coming months.

Our second entry is one of the fastest-rising forwards across the English game, as Harlequins prop Fin Baxter continues to push on from strength to strength. The loose-head has come a long way from his Harlequins debut in 2020, having also cut his teeth in the Championship with Quins' partnership club London Scottish.

Baxter endured a baptism of fire upon his England call-up, as he was flung into the fray against the All Blacks this past Summer. The 22-year-old was on the bench as his club and country mentor Joe Marler led in England's starting pack against the All Blacks, but Marler would depart after 17 minutes, when the full weight of Tyrel Lomax bared down upon his foot and broke bone. Baxter had no time to waste, and stepped up to the plate in England's narrow defeat to New Zealand in Dunedin.

Baxter's first England start followed the following week, as he kicked on to take up the one shirt for the re-match at Eden Park. Despite being so early in his career, Baxter has already experienced the brightest lights of the biggest stages, with a Lions call-up the next obvious progression. The 2021 tour saw Gatland initially name Rory Sutherland, Mako Vunipola and Andrew Porter as the loose-head options. Three loose-heads would again be expected for the upcoming tour to Australia.

Like any ambitious Lions player, Baxter faces fierce competition for a Lions tour involvement. Beginning with his fellow countrymen, both Ellis Genge and Joe Marler would be eager to head to Australia, as would Ireland's Andrew Porter, who missed out on the 2021 tour with an untimely toe injury, after being originally pencilled in. Rory Sutherland and Pierre Schoeman enter the ring from Scotland, with Wales' Gareth Thomas and Corey Domachowski presenting the leading loose-heads from across the Severn Bridge.

We stick with Harlequins for our next entry, with another one of Danny Wilson's players putting themselves forward as an outside shout for the British & Irish Lions. The men in the famous quarters could well lose the likes of Marcus Smith, Leigh Halfpenny and Joe Marler to the Lions next June, with Chandler Cunningham-South doing all he can to join the fray of club-mates looking to head down under to Australia.

Cunningham-South could cap off a whirlwind five years with a Lions tour inclusion, as the back row has come a long way since the collapse of London Irish. The hard-hitter's talents were well regarded around West London, and Cunningham-South did not have to wait long until he was snapped up out of free agency by Harlequins. The momentum continued to roll for the 21-year-old, who earned his England debut in the 2024 Six Nations.

Cunningham-South was included amongst four other debutants, who earned their maiden Test caps in the opening round in Rome. However, out of the likes of Fin Smith, Ethan Roots and Fraser Dingwall, Cunningham-South and Manny Feyi-Waboso are the front-runners for a spot in the Lions tour. Whilst we will address the competition faced by Feyi-Waboso shortly, Cunningham-South's back row counterparts read as a solid list of Lions candidates.

The rival contenders begin with his fellow England teammates, with Sam Underhill, Ben Earl and Tom Curry all vying for a spot upon the Lions tour. Ireland through in some serious firepower, with Caelan Doris and Josh van der Flier, with Jac Morgan of Wales and Scotland's Andy Onyeama-Christie hoping to return from a horror of an ankle injury. Cunningham-South is certainly an outsiders pick, but with profound ability across the flanks and at number eight, he is a versatile multi-tool man to have in Andy Farrell's ranks.

England and Exeter Chiefs' dynamic wing, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso could soon add British & Irish Lion to his ever growing list of accomplishments. Yet like his previous England teammates, it will not be a straight forward road to the red jersey, as he faces fierce competition to get himself on the plane to Australia.

In a similar form to Cunningham-South, Feyi-Waboso has progressed from strength to strength on the Test match stage since his debut against Italy in February. The Exeter flyer was one of the stand-out talents of England's recent Summer tour of Japan and New Zealand, as he scored a try in each of the three matches, be it against Eddie Jones' Brave Blossoms or in the double header with the All Blacks.

Feyi-Waboso achieved his mission objective in New Zealand, as the All Blacks finished the tour remembering the name of the man from Devon. The challenge was laid out by Sevu Reece, after the All Blacks wing admitted to not knowing who Feyi-Waboso or Tommy Freeman were, ahead of the first Test match down in Dunedin. Feyi-Waboso's tries certainly rectified any lack of knowledge, and laid out his intentions for a Lions involvement next June.

Out of our shortlisted bolters, Feyi-Waboso is arguably the leading contender for a spot in Andy Farrell's Lions squad. However, he does have to deal with the possible return of Henry Arundell, with the Racing 92 wing embodying his club's name as he scorches along the touchlines of the Top 14. The opponents outside of Arundell also include Elliot Daly, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Sleightholme and Max Malins from England alone, before any further contenders from Ireland, Scotland or Wales are thrown into the mix.

Thankfully for Feyi-Waboso, 2021 British Lion Louis Rees-Zammit ended his rugby career with his shock move to the NFL, and does not look to be returning to Wales or Gloucester anytime soon. Ireland's James Lowe and Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe are arguably the first choice wings in many Lions fan's eyes, with Rio Dyer of Wales a bolter of his own right from Warren Gatland's Wales.

Then throw into the mix an uncapped England hopeful who has been tearing up the Premiership, and the possible wing combinations for the upcoming Lions tour only get further complicated. Since the start of the new league season, Bristol wing Gabriel Ibitoye has been on a mission to get his long awaited (and arguably overdue) England call-up.

Ibitoye's finest hour so far was in the the West Country derby of Round Four, as Bristol took on Exeter at the Chiefs' Devonshire home. The 26-year-old ran in an unprecedented hat-trick within the closing eight minutes, as Bristol turned the derby on it's head for a dramatic late win at Sandy Park. With four tries to his name already this season, Ibitoye is striving to be the best outside back in the Premiership, and earn his stripes through a Test debut.

It was a surprise to rugby fans and pundits alike, when the Bristol flyer was not named amongst Steve Borthwick's plans, for the currently ongoing pre-Autumn Nations Series camp in Girona, Spain. Ibitoye is surely on a potential short-list as injury cover for next month's matches, with few players in better form this season that the former Harlequins and Montpellier wing.

Keeping Ibitoye at bay from the England shirt are the aforementioned likes of Manny Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Sleightholme and Elliot Daly. Whilst we by no means want to see any of the England wings come down with an injury, should the opportunity present itself for Ibitoye, you would expect to see the Bristol wing step up to the plate and make his mark in an England shirt.

There is still a long way to go before Andy Farrell nails down his squad for the Lions tour to Australia, with Ibitoye needing to keep up this tremendous form if he wants to take up a 'bolter' of a role next June.