England call up ex-'Baby Bok' Janse van Rensburg
Benhard Janse van Rensburg has been named in the Prem team of the season for the past two campaigns
- Published
Former South Africa Under-20 centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg has been called up to the England training squad in the clearest indication yet that head coach Steve Borthwick intends to blood him this summer.
Bristol's Janse van Rensburg had been tied to South Africa at Test level by a single 20-minute appearance for the 'Baby Boks' in 2016, but the Rugby Football Union (RFU) successfully appealed to World Rugby last year that his emergency injury cover cameo should not mean he is only eligible for the Springboks.
It was initially thought that Janse van Rensburg, who joined London Irish in 2021 before moving to Ashton Gate, would only qualify for England on the five-year residency ground in November.
However, his paperwork makes him eligible to play against Fiji on 11 July and Argentina on 18 July.
He will not qualify for England in time to face South Africa in Johannesburg on 4 July in the opening round of this summer's Nations Championship.
Janse van Rensburg came off the bench in South Africa under-20's defeat by Argentina at Sale's Corpacq Stadium nearly a decade ago
Janse van Rensburg's inclusion comes at the expense of Bath pair Ollie Lawrence and Max Ojomoh, who are left out.
Fraser Dingwall, Seb Atkinson and Henry Slade are the other specialist midfielders who make the cut.
Lawrence and Ojomoh's club team-mate Henry Arundell is also absent, despite scoring nine tries in his past seven club appearances.
The wing endured a difficult Six Nations, scoring an opening-round hat-trick against Wales, shown a 20-minute red card in the defeat by Scotland and dropped after the 42-21 defeat by Ireland.
Leicester's Adam Radwan, who last played for England in November 2021, and Saracens teenage sensation Noah Caluori, who leads the Prem try-scoring standings with 18, are preferred as wing options, along with the fit-again Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman, Tom Roebuck and Cadan Murley.
Archie McParland and Charlie Bracken, 21 and 22 respectively, are among five scrum-halves called up.
At hooker, Leicester's Jamie Blamire is promoted as Sale's Luke Cowan-Dickie goes through rehabilitation, with Bath's 20-year-old Kepu Tuipulotu, whose sister Sisilia plays for Wales and father Sione represented Tonga, involved officially with the senior squad for the first time.
Leicester's George Martin, only four matches into his comeback after nearly 15 months out, is among the second rows. The 24-year-old, whose physicality unsettled the Springboks in the World Cup semi-final defeat in 2023, is highly valued by Borthwick.
This get-together is the first of several three-day training camps at England's Pennyhill Park training.
England will warm up for their testing summer schedule with an uncapped match against a France XV in Vannes on 19 June, and name their Nations Championship squad following the Prem final on 20 June.
England training squad
Forwards
Jamie Blamire (Leicester), Ollie Chessum (Leicester), Arthur Clark (Gloucester), Alex Coles (Northampton), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Tom Curry (Sale), Theo Dan (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ellis Genge (Bristol), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton), George Martin (Leicester), Beno Obano (Bath), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale), Guy Pepper (Bath), Henry Pollock (Northampton), Vilikesa Sela (Bath), Kepu Tuipulotu (Bath).
Backs
Seb Atkinson (Gloucester), Charlie Bracken (Saracens), Noah Caluori (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter), George Ford (Sale), Tommy Freeman (Northampton), George Furbank (Northampton), Benhard Janse van Rensburg (Bristol), Archie McParland (Northampton), Alex Mitchell (Northampton), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Adam Radwan (Leicester), Tom Roebuck (Sale), Henry Slade (Exeter), Fin Smith (Northampton), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath), Freddie Steward (Leicester), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester).
Rehabilitation: Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks).
Not considered for selection: Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Trevor Davison (Northampton), Greg Fisilau (Exeter), Will Muir (Bath), Bevan Rodd (Sale), Sam Underhill (Bath).
