Seven Saracens named in England Rugby World Cup Squad
Saracens have had seven players called in to the England squad for the 2023 World Cup in France.
Owen Farrell will captain the side, and he has been named alongside Jamie George, Maro Itoje, Ben Earl, Billy Vunipola, Elliot Daly and Theo Dan for the tournament which starts on Friday, September 8th.
The squad of 33 players – which is made up of 19 forwards and 14 backs – totals over 1,400 England appearances combined, with an average age of 27 years old. 17 players have previous Rugby World Cup experience.
“Rugby World Cups involve unique challenges in terms of the demands on players, the need for squad flexibility and the limited number of squad places available,” said Head Coach Steve Borthwick.
“France 2023 is no different, but I am confident we have selected a squad of 33 that is well able to meet those challenges and leave us best placed to be at our most competitive in this exciting tournament.
“There have been a number of very difficult selection decisions to make, given the quality of our wider training squad. Some very good players have missed out on selection such has been the competition for places over the last eight weeks and more of preparation.
“As Saturday’s game in Cardiff proved, we have a series of demanding Test matches through August as we continue that preparation towards our opening Rugby World Cup pool game against an in-form Argentina side.”
On announcing his squad in early August, Borthwick added: “We believe that announcing the squad a little earlier than otherwise might have been the case, brings a clarity and certainty to the group, allowing the players as much time as possible to settle and develop as a squad.”
England face Wales (12 August), Ireland (19 August) and Fiji (26 August) in the Summer Nations Series before the Rugby World Cup starts.
“We look forward to welcoming Wales to Twickenham this weekend in front of our home support. There can be no doubt that it will be another hard-fought encounter.”
England begin their Rugby World Cup campaign in France against Argentina in Marseille (Saturday 9 September, kick off 2000 BST) before playing Japan in Nice (Sunday 17 September, kick off 2000 BST), Chile in Lille (Saturday 23 September, kick off 1645 BST) and Samoa in Lille (Saturday 7 October, kick off 1645 BST).
