Sam Simmonds excluded himself from England's 28-man squad for the Rugby World Cup

#8 Sam Simmonds is on the verge of moving to Montpellier. Credit: Pennsylvania/Andrew Matthews

Sam Simmonds ruled himself from the England rugby team ahead of his summer move to Montpellier as head coach Steve Borthwick named a provisional 28 players to start preparations for the 2023 World Cup in France.

No. 8 has yet to be unveiled under head coach Borthwick, and after conversations between the two, the former Exeter rower is known to have said he was unavailable for the 28-man practice team that met at Pennyhill Park on Sunday, and also for the others. future elections

Bortwick's team was chosen without the representation of any Premier League players or the top 14 playoff players, but that condition did not rule out Zach Mercer, the player Simmonds replaces in the south of France. Gloucester's No. 8 player, who has not played in five years, is included along with other rowers in the background Alex Dombrandt, Ted Hill, Tom Pearson and Sam Underhill, according to Telegraph Sport.

In other intriguing news, Billy Vunipola made his first England squad under Borthwick. True, only for injury rehab — like Ollie Chessum and Luke Cowan-Dickey — but this is the first sign that the No. 8 Saracens remain firmly in the plans of the head coach of England.

It is remembered that Joe Marler last represented England at the 2022 Six Nations and his Harlequins teammate Danny Kare was also included for the first time since England's tour of Australia that year. Marler is included in the unoccupied list, along with Premier League kit duo Beno Obano and Val Rapava Ruskin, with Ellis Jenge selected first. Jamie Blamire, Tom Dunn and Jack Walker make an exciting trio.

Curiously, Borthwick chose to pick just one castle, Charlie Ewels of Bath, and just two misers, with Kyle Sinclair and Will Stewart spotting the first choice.< /p>

Along with Care at scrum-half, Harry Randall and Ben Spencer, both of whom have been in the international desert this season, will get a chance to prove themselves as the team's only flyweight linebacker, Marcus Smith of the Harlequins.

Despite being suspended from the Premier League, the London Irish's brilliant season was rewarded with three calls in three quarters. Centre-forward Will Joseph and Utility defenders Henry Arundell and Ollie Hassel-Collins — the latter two of whom were under Borthwick in the Six Nations — all arrived at Bagshot on Sunday, along with Kadan Merley — the Premier League's leading scorer last season — Johnny May and Joe Kokanashiga, including the other three options. Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence and Joe Marchand will line up with Joseph in the center.

“The World Cup is full of high quality teams and high quality players and we enjoy the challenge ahead of us,” Borthwick said. «It all starts today at Pennyhill Park.

«We have a lot of work to do ahead of our first match in August against Wales in Cardiff, so the hard work starts now. We look forward to it.»

England Rugby World Cup training

England's warm-up games will start against Wales at the Principality Stadium on 5 August, with the second leg at Twickenham scheduled a week later, before match at Borthwick. trip to Dublin to face Ireland at Aviva Stadium on 19 August. The summer campaign will conclude with a match against Fiji at Twickenham on 26 August.

Bortwick will announce his 33-man World Cup squad on Monday August. 7.