"Saracens newest star" - 5 Uncapped England Hopefuls who Impressed in Round 3 of the Premiership

England are currently in the midst of an acute injury crisis, with the likes of George Ford, Alex Mitchell and Tom Curry all unavailable for selection. Add in the latest announcement, as after picking up a ribcage injury in last weekend's win against Harlequins, lock Alex Coles has departed the England camp, and has been replaced by Bath and Saracens locks Charlie Eweles and Nick Isiewke.

The full list of injured England players reads as follows, with Leicester lock George Martin, Exeter's Henry Slade and the Harlequins duo Alex Dombrandt and Luke Northmore rehabbing with the squad. Joe Cokanasiga, Ben Curry, Tom Curry, George Ford, Alex Mitchell, Will Muir Max Ojomah, Raffi Quirke and Bevan Rodd are all unavailable for Autumn involvement.

So, if the current injury rate continues for Steve Borthwick's side, we could well see some additional faces called into camp ahead of the Autumn Internationals. As is the way with professional sport you have to strike when the iron is hot, and England could go far wrong than selecting any of the following five uncapped hopefuls, for an outside shot at a Test debut. These are the five England hopefuls who impressed, in the third round of the Premiership.

1. Sam Graham (Northampton Saints)

Kicking off the short-list is Northampton Saints back row Sam Graham, who took home the Player of the Match Award from Friday night's win over Harlequins. Despite being 27-years-old and a Premiership player for four seasons, Graham has not been capped for England, with the likes of Billy Vunipola, Ben Earl and Alex Dombrandt taking hold of the eight jersey. With Dombrandt out with a hand injury and Vunipola now illegible after his move to Montpellier, Graham could get a shot to reinforce the back row ranks at the height of the Autumn season.

Graham scored a try in the win against Harlequins, and battled his way to 37 gain-line metres having dug in for 16 carries. Nine tackles on the defensive side of the ball to boot, the back row was tearing up trees at the Gardens last week. Northampton Saints Director of Rugby Phil Dowson commended the number eight's man of the match performance after the match:

“I think if the game had gone another way, I think Will Evans and Marcus Smith (could have got man of the match). But yeah Sam kept turning up, carried a lot of ball and looked like he made a lot of dents and you know what you are getting from Sam, his work-rate is outstanding.”

Saracens head coach Mark McCall would only have been delighted, as his 21-year-old pocket rocket Tobias Elliott, bagged his third try in as many Premiership games this past weekend. Elliott has started the 2024/25 Premiership season in fine form, with scores against Gloucester, Sale and most recently Exeter Chiefs setting the tone for a strong league campaign.

Elliott will be tasked to shine even brighter once the international stars are away on Test duties, with some highlight-reel moments expected from him in the Premiership Rugby Cup. The future is bright for the talented winger, as Elliott has already showcased his ability to beat players around the outside with pure pace, and utilise tricky footwork to skip past tacklers. Couple this with his impressive game-reading and distribution, and McCall has a true gem on his hands, that fans can get excited about up in North London.

Joe Woodward was a relative unknown to the Premiership ahead of last weekend, yet ended the match competing for a spot in the Ruck Team of the Week. The 21-year-old was a close second to Bristol's Benhard Janse van Rensburg for the 12 shirt, after an impressive first cap for Leicester Tigers. Ruck's Midlands Reporter George Wellbelove watched the former Nottingham man make his maiden Tigers cap, and said:

"The young English centre was instrumental to his side’s victory in his full debut for Leicester. He was unfazed and looked extremely comfortable in the 12 shirt. Woodward is an England
age-grade player, having represented and captaining England U18. It appears it is only a matter of time before Woodward is excelling and with the long term unavailability of Solomone Kata, Woodward is primed to take his spot and be afforded extended game time."

Exeter Chiefs fans would have been frustrated from their side's performance, as they were clear second best to Saracens on Sunday. However, a stand out positive for what was a definite under-par performance for Rob Baxter's men, was the contribution of flying fullback Josh Hodge. The 24-year-old ran in two tries in the defeat against Sarries, with his first seeing him make something out of nothing.

Hodge charged down a clearance kick, with the ball collected by his Chiefs teammate Olly Woodburn. The ball was returned to Hodge who showcased his pace, and cantered away for the try amongst a sea of black jerseys. Hodge's second score was a walk-in finish, and he reinforced Exeter's chasing points tally with some solid kicks off the tee. Despite enduring the long coach ride back to Devon after a defeat, Hodge keeps putting his name forward for England contention.

This fifth and final spot should really be shared between the Bristol Bears locks, as both James Dun and Joe Batley were seriously impressive in the win against Bath. Personifying what it means to battle for the hard yards, Dun and Batley dug deep and were spotted in each and every ruck, maul and battle for the ball. Whilst Batley exploded around the park with spotlight grabbing carries, a glint of red from Dun's scrum cap was often seen amongst the scraping boots, as the lock never faulted in his defensive effort.

We decided to stay consistent and give the nod to Dun, after he surpassed Batley to a spot in the locks for our Team of the Week for round three. Dun is certainly enjoying life in the West Country in what is his second spell for the Bears, either side of a two year run with former Championship club Jersey Reds. Uncapped for England but building momentum week after week, Dun could well be a shout to fill in if Maro Itoje or Ollie Chessum goes down injured this Autumn.