Category: Rugby Union

Head coach faces delicate balancing act before opening November Test as Saracens’s new whiz-kid enters mix

The lobby of the Pennyhill Park hotel on a Monday evening provides a neat snapshot of English rugby’s fast-changing world. First to amble into view is Noah Caluori, Saracens’s new whiz-kid who has just announced himself with five tries on his first Prem start. He nods a polite greeting and looks every inch a sporting thoroughbred that any national coach would covet.

A couple of minutes later a more familiar face appears. It feels faintly bizarre to be bumping into Joe Marler when, on your television, he is sitting in a Scottish castle with Claudia Winkleman but, hey presto, that’s the magic of showbiz right there. One minute you’re propping for England, the next you’re attempting to out-think Stephen Fry.

• England coach talks up 6ft 5in wing’s humility and desire

• Door closed on Tom Willis but left ajar for Owen Farrell

England could fast-track the Saracens teenager Noah Caluori into the Test spotlight as soon as next month following the wing’s dramatic start to his top-level club career. The 19-year-old celebrated his first Prem start with five tries against Sale Sharks on Satur­day and the national head coach, Steve Borthwick, says he is already in contention for a senior England debut.

It was impossible to miss Caluori’s aerial ability and eye for the try line at the weekend with the former Lions captain Sam Warburton ­describing the 6ft 5in player as “almost undefendable” and “an absolute diamond”. England have been aware of his potential for a while and it seems that some game time against Fiji a fortnight on Saturday is not impossible.

• Saracens’ 19-year-old wing impressed in win over Sale

• Jack Willis omitted from autumn internationals lineup

Noah Caluori, the 19-year-old ­Saracens wing, has been invited to train with England by the head coach, Steve Borthwick, after an incredible five-try barrage against Sale in his first start in the Prem on Saturday.

A 36-man training squad has been named to prepare for the upcoming autumn internationals, with Jack Willis the most notable omission by Borthwick after the No 8’s decision to return to play in France.

• No 8 to leave Saracens at end of the season

• Only Gallagher Prem players eligible for England

Tom Willis will leave Saracens at the end of the season after signing a contract with Bordeaux that will make him ineligible for Steve Borthwick’s England squad. In a major blow to the head coach, Willis has rejected a new deal from Saracens in order to return to the club where he spent a chunk of the 2022-23 campaign once Wasps had entered administration.

Since heading to north London in 2023, he has established himself as England’s first-choice No 8 and was awarded an enhanced contract by the Rugby Football Union in recognition of the impact he has made.

• Former captain will not be in training squad next week

• Farrell has not played for England since 2023 World Cup

Owen Farrell is expected to be overlooked by Steve Borthwick for England’s autumn internationals campaign despite injury headaches at inside-centre. It is understood that Farrell will not be named in a training squad on Sunday for next week’s mini camp and as a result Borthwick is expected to omit the 34-year-old former captain when he finalises his squad on 26 October.

The Gloucester centre Seb Atkinson, who started England’s two summer victories over Argentina, is sidelined through injury and likely to miss all four autumn Tests, against Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina, but as things stand that is not going to prompt Borthwick to turn to Farrell, who has not appeared for his country since the 2023 World Cup.

• Players who sign up would be ineligible for national sides

• Proposed event yet to be sanctioned by World Rugby

Senior global rugby figures believe the rebel R360 venture is all but dead unless it can find a way to appease the world’s top nations. In a dramatic move the leading unions collectively made clear this week that players involved in the R360 competition would be ineligible for their national sides and have warned them to treat offers with “extreme caution”.

Privately there is a widespread view that those pushing the R360 concept, fronted by the England World Cup winner Mike Tindall, now face a struggle to get the project off the ground if the world’s top male and female players are required to forfeit their international futures to join the rebel league.