Elliott called up as England rest Itoje for camp

Tobias Elliott has scored five tries in his past six Prem games for Saracens

• Published20 minutes ago

Saracens wing Tobias Elliott is among the prospects called up for a small-scale, England training camp, with Northampton, Bath, Exeter and Leicester players absent as they prepare for this weekend's Prem semi-finals.

After an injury-affected start to the season, Elliott, who scored seven tries in 16 league games last term, impressed during Saracens' late surge into play-off contention.

With loosehead prop Ellis Genge working to recover from a calf complaint, Harlequins' 23-year-old Will Hobson, who was part of the England A squad this year, is involved in the senior set-up for the first time.

Nathan Jibulu covers for injured Sale team-mate Luke Cowan-Dickie at hooker.

Gloucester flier Ben Redshaw, who co-captained England Under-20s at their age-grade world championship last summer, is also among the 26 players called up.

The focus for the three-day camp is England's non-cap warm-up match against a France XV in Vannes on 19 June.

England captain Maro Itoje is, in theory, available for the fixture, but has been left out, with England weighing up resting him for part or all of their summer itinerary.

The 31-year-old has racked up considerable game time with club, country and the British and Irish Lions over the past two seasons, as well as suffering the loss of his mother this year.

He briefly attended last month's training camp before returning home early, as planned by England's staff.

Head coach Steve Borthwick said at the time that Itoje's involvement in a long-haul schedule comprising matches against South Africa on 4 July, Fiji on 11 July and Argentina on 18 July was an "ongoing conversation".

Harlequins back row Chandler Cunningham-South, who came off the bench in England's final two Six Nations matches this year, is absent while he recovers from a calf problem, while Newcastle-bound Raffi Quirke and Bristol's Harry Randall are preferred to Saracens' Charlie Bracken as the scrum-half options.

England training squad

Forwards: Arthur Clark (Gloucester), Tom Curry (Sale), Theo Dan (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester), Jamie George (Saracens), Will Hobson (Harlequins), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Nathan Jibulu (Sale), Jack Kenningham (Harlequins), George Kloska (Bristol), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale), Hugh Tizard (Saracens).

Backs: Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester), Seb Atkinson (Gloucester), Noah Caluori (Saracens), Tobias Elliott (Saracens), George Ford (Sale), Benhard Janse van Rensburg (Bristol), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Raffi Quirke (Sale), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Ben Redshaw (Gloucester), Tom Roebuck (Sale), Marcus Smith (Harlequins).

Related topics

• Rugby Union
• England Rugby Union

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