England coach Steve Borthwick has seemingly strengthened his stance on resting captain Maro Itoje.
Itoje has been left out of Borthwick’s latest training squad, raising further questions about his availability for next month’s Nations Championship opener against the Springboks.
The 31-year-old lock was absent from a 26-man squad named for a three-day training camp, despite several of his Saracens teammates earning call-ups.
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Itoje’s omission comes after Borthwick revealed in May that England were considering resting their captain for part, or even all, of the demanding July international window.
England’s schedule includes a clash against the world champions at Ellis Park on 4 July, followed by fixtures against Argentina and Fiji during a tour that will see the squad travel approximately 40,000km.
Borthwick said discussions remain ongoing regarding Itoje’s workload.
The Saracens forward has been one of the most heavily used players in international rugby since making his England debut in 2016 and has accumulated more Test minutes than any other player in the game during that period.
His workload increased further last year when he captained the British & Irish Lions to a series victory over the Wallabies.
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While Itoje was omitted, several Saracens players were included in the training group, among them Ben Earl, Theo Dan, Jamie George, Nick Isiekwe, Hugh Tizard, Noah Caluori and Tobias Elliott.
With Saracens’ Premiership campaign ending in defeat to Exeter last weekend, those players are now available for England’s non-cap fixture against a France XV in Vannes on 19 June.
No players from Premiership semi-finalists Bath, Northampton, Leicester or Exeter were considered for the squad.
England training squad:
Forwards: Arthur Clark, Tom Curry, Theo Dan, Alex Dombrandt, Ben Earl, Afolabi Fasogbon, Jamie George, Will Hobson, Nick Isiekwe, Nathan Jibulu, Jack Kenningham, George Kloska, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Hugh Tizard.
Backs: Charlie Atkinson, Seb Atkinson, Noah Caluori, Tobias Elliott, George Ford, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Cadan Murley, Raffi Quirke, Harry Randall, Ben Redshaw, Tom Roebuck, Marcus Smith.
– AFP
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
