Steve Borthwick continues to build superhuman England squad for World Cup
England head coach Steve Borthwick must be pretty pleased with what he has seen so far in the early stages of England’s training camp ahead of the World Cup later this year.
Players from Saracens and Sale Sharks have still not even teamed up with the squad, and already players from elsewhere are putting their hand up to make Borthwick’s final squad. One of those was Bath lock Charlie Ewels this week, who showed what shape he is in entering camp.
The 112kg forward produced a sub-30 second 200 metre row (29 seconds) this week while with the squad in Brighton, with plenty of his teammates cheering him on.
Plenty of people will point out that this does not reflect on how he is as a player, and they would be absolutely right. But after a Six Nations where England failed to impress, the fact that his players are in good shape will be quite an encouragement for Borthwick.
Ewels will be aiming to earn his first England cap since his infamous 82 second red card against Ireland in the 2022 Six Nations, although his lack of game time since then has been down to injury.
Take a look at Ewels on the rowing machine:
@charlieewels @o2 | #WearTheRose pic.twitter.com/RGVV6nefuD
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) June 21, 2023
38-player training squad:
Forwards (20)
Jamie Blamire (Newcastle Falcons)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
Ted Hill (Bath Rugby)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers)
Zach Mercer (Montpellier Hérault Rugby)
Beno Obano (Bath Rugby)
Tom Pearson (London Irish)
Val Rapava-Ruskin (Gloucester Rugby)
David Ribbans (Northampton Saints)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Backs (18)
Henry Arundell (London Irish)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby)
Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
Will Joseph (London Irish)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints)
Cadan Murley (Harlequins)
Guy Porter (Leicester Tigers)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)
Anthony Watson (Leicester Tigers)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
