"Vice captain to rejection" - The three England players blacklisted by Steve Borthwick

Outlined below are four exceptional talents who are unlikely to add to their international caps under Borthwick's leadership.

With a move to France pending, the Exeter Chiefs flier went from vice-captain in the Autumn to being completely out of the squad for the Six Nations, reportedly without a phone call.

Brutal from Steve Borthwick, who is reportedly being heavily influenced by RFU chiefs according to Eddie Jones.

Yesterday, any chance of a recall seemed to go out the window as Nowell was fined £10,000 by the Rugby Football Union for criticising a refereeing decision on Twitter.

The 30-year-old accepted his post prejudiced the game when appearing in front of an independent disciplinary panel on Wednesday.

He has to undertake a referees' course, with the fine being donated to charity.

Nowell said referee Karl Dickson's decision to show Woodburn his second yellow card was "one of the worst decisions" he had ever seen.

The winger pre-empted being left out of the World Cup squad, pulling himself out of contention.

Nowell said: "“Like I have said, I didn’t have a lot of communication with Steve. To be honest, I didn’t have a lot, so you come to that stage where you are, ‘Right, probably that ship has sailed on me now in terms of the England stuff’."

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According to a source from RUCK, it is suggested that the Gloucester star, Rapava-Ruskin, was left puzzled when the England coach questioned his conditioning.

The source indicates that Rapava-Ruskin, who has been performing exceptionally well as a loosehead prop in the Premiership, stood up for himself by highlighting his outstanding statistics for his club.

Rapava-Ruskin, who is 30 years old, held the top position in various statistical categories for props in the Premiership last season. These categories include meters gained, dominant collisions, turnovers, line breaks, and offloads. Furthermore, he was recognized as the Gallagher Premiership Player of the Round in Round 12.

Despite Rapava-Ruskin's impressive performance, the England coach, Borthwick, disagreed with his stance and opted to drop him in favor of Joe Marler, Ellis Genge, and Bevan Rodd. It is worth noting that Rapava-Ruskin could be the best uncapped player in the country at the moment.

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Simmonds opted to exclude himself from World Cup consideration following a deterioration in his relationship with head coach Steve Borthwick during the 2023 Six Nations.

The highly skilled number 8, who is on his way to Montpellier, informed Borthwick of his decision back in June, expressing his desire not to be considered for selection due to feeling that he had been 'messed about' earlier in the year.