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England A national rugby union team

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England A
UnionRugby Football Union
Coach(es)Lee Blackett
(February 2025)
1st kit
2nd kit
First match
England England XV 29–0  Canada
(30 September 1967)
Largest win
England England A 91–5  Portugal XV
(25 February 2024)
Largest defeat
England England Saxons 0–35  Scotland A
(3 February 2012)

England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an international environment and to show that they have the ability to perform at Test level for the England first team. England A were unbeaten for 13 games until losing to Ireland A, now known as Ireland Wolfhounds, in the 2009 Churchill Cup Final on 21 June 2009.

England A was one of three sides that regularly competed in the now-defunct annual Churchill Cup competition, the others being the full national teams of Canada and the United States. From 2006 onwards, they also regularly played two matches against other European countries in parallel with the full Six Nations Championship.

History

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England's second team was known as England B until 1992, when it was renamed as England A. In 2000, as part of its long-term strategic plan, the RFU re-examined the role of the 'second team' and decided that a change of name was desirable. Several names were considered – for example, England Aces and England Bloods – before the name England Saxons was chosen from a short-list of possibles. The change of name took effect from mid-May 2006, just before the start of that year's Churchill Cup.

England Saxons participated in the Churchill Cup from its inception in 2003 until its demise following the 2011 edition. Under the final format, they played three games: two at the pool stage and one on finals day. The Saxons also played two matches each season against the other teams competing in the Six Nations Championship – (France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales) – with the games being played on the same weekends as Six Nations test matches.

The team reverted to their traditional name of England A in May 2021.[1] The name change was made ahead of the team's planned return against Scotland A that summer, having been on an extended hiatus since its two-match series win over South Africa A in 2016.[2] However, this fixture was ultimately cancelled, due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Scotland squad.[3]

In November 2023, it was announced that England A would make another revival the following spring, coinciding with the 2024 Six Nations.[4] In their first game in eight years, England A achieved their biggest ever win, defeating Portugal by 91–5 in February 2024.[5] This marked the beginning of a more regular schedule of fixtures for the side, with another match against Australia A taking place in November of that year.[6]

Concept

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England A are seen as an integral part of the RFU's development process:[7]

England Saxons is a key part of the development pathway to the senior side...

The future success of rugby in England depends, to a large extent, on the next best 15 players.

England A will give up and coming players a platform to perform in an international environment and to show that they can make the step up when required.

— Andy Robinson (England head coach), 18 May 2006

England A games do not count as full England internationals, regardless of the opposition, as players are not capped. However, the governing body of a lower-tier nation may grant full national caps when its senior side plays the Saxons—for example, USA Rugby awarded official Test caps for the USA team's matches against the Saxons in 2008. If the opposition awards Test caps for a match, it counts fully in Test statistics for the capping nation, though not for England.

Recent results

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The following is a list of England A's recent match results, as well as upcoming scheduled fixtures, during the 12 months up to and including February 2025:

  Win   Draw   Loss   Upcoming

25 February 2024 England A  91–5  Portugal XV Welford Road, Leicester  
13:00 GMT (UTC+0) Try: Blamire 2' m
Pearson 5' m
Barbeary 13' m
Tuima 18' c
Muir 24' c
Murley (3) 28' c, 71' m, 75' m
Hodge 33' c
Ojomoh 40' c
Penalty try 41'
Riley 52' m
Shillcock 57' m
Beard 62' c
Fisilau 67' c
Con: Hodge (5/6) 19', 25', 29', 34', 40+1'
Shillcock (2/5) 63', 68'
 Report Try: Vareiro 59' m
Cards: Vareiro yellow card 18' to 28' 		Attendance: 15,123
Referee: Luc Ramos (France)
England A:
Forwards – 1. Baxter 2. Blamire 3. Heyes 4. Tuima 5. Ewels 6. Pearson 7. Pepper 8. Barbeary
Backs – 9. Randall 10. Atkinson 11. Muir 12. Ojomoh 13. Beard 14. Murley 15. Hodge
Substitutes – 16. Riley 17. Haffar 18. Iosefa-Scott 19. Bamber 20. Fisilau 21. Englefield 22. Shillcock 23. Hartley
Portugal XV:
Forwards – 1. Arrojado 2. Vicente 3. Prim 4. Andrade 5. Fernandes 6. Ribeiro 7. F. Almeida 8. Roque
Backs – 9. Pinto 10. Vareiro 11. J. Cortes 12. Nobre 13. Leite 14. Gomes 15. A. Almeida
Substitutes – 16. Da Cunha 17. Rodrigues 18. Turabelidze 19. Batista 20. Cabaco 21. B. Almeida 22. D. Cortes 23. Da Camara
17 November 2024 England A  38–17  Australia A Twickenham Stoop, London  
14:00 GMT (UTC+0) Try: Heyes 6' m
Murley (2) 42' m, 77' c
Langdon 56' c
Fisilau 61' c
Muir 67' c
Con: Atkinson (2/4) 57', 62'
Shillcock (2/2) 68', 78'
 Report Try: Reimer 9' c
Van Nek 65' c
Con: Lynagh (1/1) 10'
McLaughlin-Phillips (1/1) 66'
Pen: Lynagh (1/1) 30'
 Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
England A:
Forwards – 1. Opoku-Fordjour 2. Oghre 3. Heyes 4. Tizard 5. Clark 6. Pearson 7. Pollock 8. Willis
Backs – 9. Porter 10. Atkinson 11. Ibitoye 12. Dingwall (c) 13. Beard 14. Murley 15. Carpenter
Substitutes – 16. Langdon 17. Iyogun 18. Fasogbon 19. Tuima 20. Fisilau 21. McParland 22. Shillcock 23. Muir
Australia A:
Forwards – 1. Hoopert 2. Nasser 3. De Lutiis 4. Smith 5. Canham 6. Hooper 7. Reimer 8. Brial
Backs – 9. R. Lonergan (c) 10. Lynagh 11. Lancaster 12. Stewart 13. Walton 14. Toole 15. Campbell
Substitutes – 16. L. Lonergan 17. Lambert 18. Van Nek 19. Blyth 20. Scott 21. Fines-Leleiwasa 22. McLaughlin-Phillips 23. Sapsford
23 February 2025 England A  v  Ireland A Ashton Gate, Bristol  
13:00 GMT (UTC+0)

Squad

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On 12 February 2025, a provisional 25-player squad was named in preparation for England A's fixture against Ireland Wolfhounds, taking place later that month, alongside the 2025 Six Nations.[8]

Note: Players capped at senior international level are listed in bold.
Caps and clubs correct as of: 12 February 2025.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Curtis Langdon Hooker (1997-08-03) 3 August 1997 (age 27) 2 England Northampton Saints
Gabriel Oghre Hooker (1998-05-25) 25 May 1998 (age 26) 0 England Bristol Bears
Phil Brantingham Prop (2001-10-02) 2 October 2001 (age 23) 0 England Saracens
Luke Green Prop (2001-05-06) 6 May 2001 (age 23) 0 England Northampton Saints
Tarek Haffar Prop (2001-09-13) 13 September 2001 (age 23) 0 England Northampton Saints
George Kloska Prop (1999-11-16) 16 November 1999 (age 25) 0 England Bristol Bears
Richard Capstick Lock (2000-02-13) 13 February 2000 (age 24) 0 England Exeter Chiefs
Tom Lockett Lock (2002-10-06) 6 October 2002 (age 22) 0 England Northampton Saints
Hugh Tizard Lock (2000-03-31) 31 March 2000 (age 24) 0 England Saracens
Alfie Barbeary Back row (2000-10-05) 5 October 2000 (age 24) 0 England Bath
Greg Fisilau Back row (2003-07-09) 9 July 2003 (age 21) 0 England Exeter Chiefs
Jack Kenningham Back row (1999-11-19) 19 November 1999 (age 25) 0 England Harlequins
Tom Pearson Back row (1999-10-26) 26 October 1999 (age 25) 1 England Northampton Saints
Will Porter Scrum-half (1998-12-14) 14 December 1998 (age 26) 0 England Harlequins
Jack van Poortvliet Scrum-half (2001-05-15) 15 May 2001 (age 23) 16 England Leicester Tigers
Charlie Atkinson Fly-half (2001-10-06) 6 October 2001 (age 23) 0 England Gloucester
Orlando Bailey Fly-half (2001-09-30) 30 September 2001 (age 23) 0 England Bath
Will Butt Centre (2000-01-15) 15 January 2000 (age 25) 0 England Bath
Max Ojomoh Centre (2000-09-14) 14 September 2000 (age 24) 0 England Bath
Joseph Woodward Centre (2003-09-17) 17 September 2003 (age 21) 0 England Leicester Tigers
Ollie Hassell-Collins Wing (1999-01-17) 17 January 1999 (age 26) 2 England Leicester Tigers
Tobias Elliott Wing (2003-09-16) 16 September 2003 (age 21) 0 England Saracens
Joe Carpenter Fullback (2001-08-19) 19 August 2001 (age 23) 0 England Sale Sharks
George Hendy Fullback (2002-10-15) 15 October 2002 (age 22) 0 England Northampton Saints
Josh Hodge Fullback (2000-05-23) 23 May 2000 (age 24) 0 England Exeter Chiefs

References

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  1. ^ "England Saxons revert to England A". www.bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  2. ^ "England 'A' team to face Scotland 'A': Eleven uncapped players, a new captain and two Saxons survivors". www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union. The Telegraph. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  3. ^ "England A vs Scotland A called off due to Covid cases in the Scotland squad". www.skysports.com/rugby-union. Sky Sports. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  4. ^ "England 'A' to get first run out since 2016 against Portugal". www.therugbypaper.co.uk. The Rugby Paper. 7 November 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  5. ^ "England A take Portugal to the cleaners in Leicester". www.rugbypass.com. Rugby Pass. 25 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  6. ^ "England A beat Australia A at Twickenham Stoop". www.cityam.com. City A.M. 17 November 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  7. ^ "England A becomes England Saxons". rfu.com. 18 May 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012.
  8. ^ "England A squad announced ahead of Ireland A game". www.englandrugby.com. England Rugby. 12 February 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
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