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.
 | |||
| Union | Rugby Football Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Coach(es) | Mark Mapletoft (November 2024) | ||
| Captain(s) | Fraser Dingwall (November 2024) | ||
| |||
| First match | |||
 England XV 29–0  Canada(30 September 1967) | |||
| Largest win | |||
England A 91–5  Portugal XV(25 February 2024) | |||
| Largest defeat | |||
England Saxons 0–35  Scotland A(3 February 2012) | |||
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. Since 2006, they have also played two matches, against Ireland Wolfhounds and Italy A, in parallel with the full Six Nations Championship.
Concept
editEngland'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 – e.g. 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. They reverted to England A in May 2021.[1]
England A are seen as an integral part of the RFU's development process:[2]
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
editThe 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  18' to 28'
|
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
editOn 6 November 2024, a provisional 24-player squad was named ahead of England A's fixture against Australia A, taking place later that month as part of the 2024 autumn internationals.[3]
On 12 November 2024, Arthur Clark, Hugh Tizard and Will Muir were added to the squad, in the lead up the Australia A match on 17 November. They replaced Ted Hill and Tom Roebuck, who withdrew to join up with the England senior squad, while Billy Sela was ruled out because of injury. In addition, a further five-players – Tom Burrow, Charlie Griffin, Tarek Haffar, Angus Hall and Sean Kerr – joined the training squad to support the match week preparations.[4]
On 14 November 2024, Asher Opoku-Fordjour was recalled from the England senior squad, while Rus Tuima was also called up.[5]
- Head Coach:
Mark Mapletoft (England U20s) - Forwards Coach: Andy Titterrell (England U20s)
- Scrum Coach: Nathan Catt (England U20s)
- Attack Coach: Lee Blackett (Bath)
- Defence Coach: Haydn Thomas (Exeter)
Note: Players capped at senior international level are listed in bold.
Caps and clubs correct as of: 14 November 2024.
References
edit- ^ "England Saxons revert to England A". www.bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "England A becomes England Saxons". rfu.com. 18 May 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012.
- ^ "England A wider squad announced ahead of Australia A fixture". Rugby Football Union. 6 November 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
- ^ "England A squad announcement". Rugby Football Union. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "England A name team to face Australia A". Rugby Football Union. 15 November 2024. Retrieved 15 November 2024.