{"id":822056,"date":"2026-11-02T20:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T20:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/822056\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T20:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T20:28:13","slug":"england-forced-into-squad-changes-amid-scrum-half-injury-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/822056\/","title":{"rendered":"England forced into squad changes amid scrum-half injury crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published: 3 hours ago | 2 November 2026 11:57 EST
Updated: 3 hours ago | 2 November 2026 12:05 EST <\/p>\n

mens<\/p>\n

nations-championship<\/p>\n

PARIS, FRANCE – MARCH 13: Ben Spencer of England looks on during the England Captain’s Run at Stade de France on March 13, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by David Rogers\/Getty Images) \"Google <\/a> <\/p>\n

England<\/a> head coach Steve Borthwick has called up Bath<\/a> captain Ben Spencer and Bristol\u2019s Harry Randall for the Nations Championship<\/a> after being forced into making two changes at scrum-half.<\/p>\n

Both were excluded from his last training squad but with Northampton<\/a> pair, Alex Mitchell and Archie McParland, currently sidelined and officially out of contention for Sunday\u2019s match against Australia, Borthwick has had to change his plans.<\/p>\n

Mitchell picked up a hamstring injury during Saints\u2019 win over Gloucester<\/a> at the weekend and will undergo a scan to determine the level of damage, while McParland missed that match because of the calf injury he suffered in England training.<\/p>\n

In total, there are five changes to the training squad, one in the forwards and two more in the backs.<\/p>\n

Max Ojomoh\u2019s back-and-forth between club and country continues as he makes way for fit-again centre Seb Atkinson, while Immanuel Feyi-Waboso returns at the expense of Noah Caluori on the wing.<\/p>\n

Upfront, Kepueli Tuipulotu\u2019s knee injury has led to a reprieve for Saracens\u2019 Theo Dan.<\/p>\n

The squad, comprising 20 forwards and 16 backs, has assembled at England\u2019s Performance Centre at Pennyhill Park this Monday evening in preparation for the run of November fixtures.<\/p>\n

Following the Australia<\/a> match, England will face Japan<\/a> and New Zealand<\/a> at Allianz Stadium in Rounds 5 and 6, before Finals Weekend from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 November.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to getting back to Allianz Stadium for four important Test matches against top-level opposition,\u201d said Borthwick.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese fixtures take on added significance this Autumn as they represent our final opportunity to face Southern Hemisphere opposition before next year\u2019s Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cFacing Australia next Sunday is an exciting challenge. They have played a significant amount of Test rugby in recent months, and we know the quality and experience they will bring.\u201d<\/p>\n

England\u2019s Nations Championship squad:<\/p>\n

Forwards:
Fin Baxter (Harlequins)
Ollie Chessum (Leicester<\/a> Tigers)
Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby)
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale<\/a> Sharks)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Theo Dan (Saracens)
Ben Earl (Saracens)
Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Ellis Genge (Bristol<\/a> Bears)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints)
George Martin (Saracens)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)
Tom Pearson (Northampton Saints)
Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby)<\/p>\n

Backs:
Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby)
Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
George Ford (Sale Sharks)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
George Furbank (Harlequins)
Will Joseph (Gloucester Rugby)
Joe Marchant (Sale Sharks)
Cadan Murley (Harlequins)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published: 3 hours ago | 2 November 2026 11:57 EST Updated: 3 hours ago | 2 November 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":822057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-822056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}