Following confirmation of England’s 36-man training squad for a three-day camp ahead of the Nations Championship, here are our five key takeaways.

Mostly settled

While there are certainly some changes to this extended squad from the July tour, it does feel like a mostly settled unit.

Steve Borthwick has the majority of, if not all, of his key generals at his disposal once again in the form of George Ford, Ollie Chessum, Henry Slade, Jamie George and obviously the returning Maro Itoje. Having that core of leaders fully fit and firing is going to be such a boost as England look to build back up in this next block. Elsewhere, the bulk of July’s starters are also retained in this group as well, with Tommy Freeman, Ben Earl, Alex Coles, Jack van Poortvliet and Marcus Smith among others also keep their spots in the extended squad.

There could easily have been a temptation for Borthwick to completely rip up the script and take a few risks; this was probably his last chance to do so before the World Cup, and while there are a decent number of changes within it, he has overall stuck to the process. He’s resisted that temptation.

It seems his World Cup core is forming.

Production line clear

Hooker has long been talked about as the position with no clear production line, but that seems to have been blown out of the water now with the inclusion of Bath’s Kepu Tuipulotu ahead of Theo Dan.

Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie’s duopoly over the two and 16 shirts in recent years has given England stability in that department, but it’s also meant that they haven’t been able to bring through their next long-term option. It seemed Dan was going to be that man, emerging on the scene in 2023, winning 24 Test caps and being a regular part of the extended squad during campaigns, but yet it seems he hasn’t quite been given that full trust. His last Test appearance came nearly a year ago during the 2025 Autumn Nations Series, and his last start came against Argentina in July 2025.

And now, it seems Borthwick is going in another direction with the inclusion of 21-year-old Tuipulotu. His age profile alone makes him the perfect option to mould into England’s long-term hooker, but he is already mixing it with the best players England have at their disposal and maturing at a rapid rate. Bringing him in now will only fast-track things for him in that department.

England are putting their eggs in Tuipulotu’s basket now, and it seems they are making their production line clear to those on the outside.

In from the cold

One of the big talking points within this squad is the number of players who make their returns following lengthy absences from the senior squad. Fraser Dingwall, Tom Pearson and Will Joseph are chief among them, with the trio all coming back into the mix following strong starts to the league season.

Dingwall was England’s go-to inside centre during their resounding run of wins last year and was looking the business at that with big performances against teams like the All Blacks, but it quickly went downhill at the start of 2026 and he found himself out of the extended training squad altogether come the end of the campaign. This feels like a chance for him to really come back into the fold and nail down his spot again, particularly with him being one of just two out-and-out 12s in this 36-man group.

Pearson is an interesting case. He was whisked into the senior squad at the start of the World Cup in just his second season of senior rugby, and then started a warm-up Test against Wales too; but at the time of writing, that remains his one and only cap. It’s not that he’s not been in the mix, with him featuring for England A on several occasions, but it’s likely just a result of strengthening competition for spots in the back-row. He has been one of the most consistent forwards in the PREM for a good while now, though, playing a major role in Northampton’s run to the title last season and going well at the start of the current campaign, so it feels as good a time as any to bring him back into the mix.

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Joseph too is a curious case. He was another instantly promoted into the Test picture after a bright start with London Irish, winning his one and only cap back in 2022 against Australia, but injuries and limited opportunities have meant he’s not been given a sniff since then. Not even an England A call-up. But, his form this year cannot be ignored, with Joseph playing a pivotal role in Gloucester’s fantastic start to the season. As we’ll come onto, he also gives England cover at both centre and wing, which is a big tick in his box.

Joe Marchant has also earned a spot in the Test side for the first time since the Rugby World Cup, but his return comes at just the second real opportunity after his three-year spell out in France. The 30-year-old is another who gives England genuine versatility (spoiler alert, we’re going to talk about that soon), and sits as a really unique option within their backline. Borthwick said he wanted to see how he fared in the PREM before being brought back into the fold, and it seems he liked what he saw.

Versatility vital

When you study the squad, it’s clear Borthwick is looking for versatility across it. In both departments, forwards and backs, Borthwick has a lot of players who can be dipped in and out of different spots.

Starting in the pack: Chessum, Coles and Itoje can shift between lock and flanker pretty much at will, with the latter even starting a few games at blindside, while Henry Pollock, Pearson, Curry squared and Earl can also move right across the back-row. It even extends to the front-row with Asher Opoku-Fordjour an option on both sides of the scrum and Tuipulotu having experience in the back-row as well.

In the backline: Joseph, Marchant, and Freeman all cover both centre and wing; Slade, Dingwall and Ojomoh can cover both centre positions, with the Exeter man even an option at fly-half if needed as well, while M. Smith, Charlie Atkinson and Furbank also give utility value through the pivots at fly-half and full-back.

England might have shifted away from the 6-2 split that worked so well in 2025 for multiple reasons, injuries being a main one, but having so much utility value across both units gives the head coach a genuine option to revert back to type and reactivate his Pom Squad.

Injuries, injuries, injuries

There is no getting from the fact that England are carrying a few injury concerns into the Nations Championship. Fin Smith is now chief among them after withdrawing from the three-day camp with a calf issue, but Guy Pepper and Seb Atkinson both picked up knocks this weekend and are working through their rehabilitation programmes. Elsewhere, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is back in injury club with a hamstring issue, although it seems that is more precautionary than anything else. There is also no current timeline on players like Henry Arundell, Will Muir or Benhard Janse van Rensburg either.

Around that cohort, both Sam Underhill and Chandler Cunningham-South will miss the entirety of the upcoming block through surgery, which again clouds Borthwick’s selection in the back-row.

Injuries are part and parcel of the modern game, but England have some key players on the sidelines heading into the Tests.