England and France meet in an uncapped match as preparations for the Nations Championship ramp up
George Ford and Harry Randall of England (Image: Warren Little/Getty Images)
Steve Borthwick’s England take on a France XV this evening in an uncapped match in Vannes.
As both sides ramp up preparations for the upcoming Nations Championship Tests next month, Borthwick has added 13 new faces to his 33-man squad, with players from Leicester Tigers and Bath now available following their PREM semi-final defeats.
Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs personnel remain with their clubs ahead of Saturday’s final at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
The big-name omission remains Maro Itoje, with conversations continuing over his involvement this summer, ahead of Tests against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina.
Tigers’ Jamie Blamire, Ollie Chessum, Joe Heyes, George Martin, Archie van der Flier, Adam Radwan, Freddie Steward and Jack van Poortvliet have been called into the wider squad, while Charlie Ewels, Ted Hill, Beno Obano, Vilikesa Sela and Max Ojomoh also make the group from Bath.
They will take on a France XV at the Stade de la Rabine in Vannes.
Fabien Galthie has named his 28-man squad for the clash, with nine players from Bordeaux-Begles included, but the likes of Maxime Lucu, Matthieu Jalibert and Louis Bielle-Biarrey are not selected for the uncapped fixture.
Les Bleus will take on the All Blacks, Australia and Japan next month.
The match, which kicks off at 5.15pm BST, is available to stream for free on RugbyPassTV.
Squads in full
France
Forwards: Pierre Bochaton, Esteban Capilla, Sipili Falatea, Marko Gazzotti, Mickaël Guillard, Maxime Lamothe, Lucas Martin, Barnabé Massa, Temo Matiu, Régis Montagne, Boris Palu, Jefferson Poirot, Emerick Setiano, Thomas Staniforth, Killian Tixeront, Réda Wardi.
Backs: Christian Ambadiang, Grégoire Arfeuil, Théo Attissogbe, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Nicolas Depoortere, Axel Despérès, Mathis Ferté, Antoine Hastoy, Baptiste Jauneau, Louis Le Brun, Nolann Le Garrec, Yoram Moefana
England
Forwards: Jamie Blamire, Ollie Chessum, Tom Curry, Theo Dan, Alex Dombrandt, Ben Earl, Charlie Ewels, Jamie George, Joe Heyes, Ted Hill, Nick Isiekwe, Jack Kenningham, George Kloska, George Martin, Beno Obano, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Vilikesa Sela, Hugh Tizard, Archie van der Flier
Backs: Charlie Atkinson, Seb Atkinson, Noah Caluori, George Ford, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Cadan Murley, Max Ojomoh, Raffi Quirke, Adam Radwan, Harry Randall, Tom Roebuck, Marcus Smith, Freddie Steward, Jack van Poortvliet
Rehabilitation: Arthur Clark, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Guy Pepper.