Newcastle Falcons forwards Jamie Blamire and Guy Pepper are part of the England A squad preparing for their game against Portugal in Leicester on Sunday February 25.

The 1pm kick-off at Mattioli Woods Welford Road sees hooker Blamire (left of picture) and flanker Pepper both called up, with England A playing their first fixture since 2016.

A total of 21 of the 27 involved players have been brought through the England Rugby pathway and achieved caps at either U18 or U20 level.

The squad will assemble at Loughborough University next Tuesday to begin preparations for the fixture later that week, where they will in addition be joined by some players presently training with the senior squad.

The squad was selected by England senior men’s head coach Steve Borthwick in consultation with England Men’s A head coach George Skivington, defence coach Dom Waldouck, attack coach Sam Vesty and RFU executive director of performance rugby, Conor O’Shea.

England head coach, Steve Borthwick, said: “We’re delighted to see the return of A-team rugby as such an important part of our rugby’s development and to announce the squad for the forthcoming fixture against Portugal. 

“We have got a lot of talented and exciting young players in England, and this is a great opportunity for them to show they can play international rugby. We have selected players in this initial squad who we believe have the potential to be in the England team in the very near future.

“One of the very important aspects of this A-team is to provide a platform for players who have come out of the U20s and who are playing club rugby, allowing them to experience the international environment.”

Tickets to England A’s match-up with Portugal are available to purchase here. 

England A squad:

Forwards

Fin Baxter (Harlequins)

Jamie Blamire (Newcastle Falcons)

Tarek Haffar (Northampton Saints)

Sam Riley (Harlequins)

Seb Blake (Gloucester)

Josh Iosefa Scott (Exeter Chiefs)

James Harper (Sale Sharks)

Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)

Arthur Clark (Gloucester)

Ben Bamber (Sale Sharks)

Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs)

Tom Pearson (Northampton Saints)

Guy Pepper (Newcastle Falcons)

Alfie Barbeary (Bath)

Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)

Jack Clement (Gloucester)

Backs

Caolan Englefield (Gloucester)

Harry Randall (Bristol Bears)

Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester)

Jamie Shillcock (Leicester Tigers)

Oliver Sleightholme (Northampton Saints)

Oliver Hartley (Saracens)

Rekeiti Ma’asi-White (Sale Sharks)

Cadan Murley (Harlequins)

Ollie Hassell-Collins (Leicester Tigers)

Josh Hodge (Exeter Chiefs)

Sam Harris (Bath)