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England A national rugby union team
Rugby team From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
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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. From 2006 onwards, they also regularly played two matches against other European countries in parallel with the full Six Nations Championship.
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History
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England'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 – for example, 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.
England Saxons participated in the Churchill Cup from its inception in 2003 until its demise following the 2011 edition. Under the final format, they played three games: two at the pool stage and one on finals day. The Saxons also played two matches each season against the other teams competing in the Six Nations Championship – (France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales) – with the games being played on the same weekends as Six Nations test matches.
The team reverted to their traditional name of England A in May 2021.[1] The name change was made ahead of the team's planned return against Scotland A that summer, having been on an extended hiatus since its two-match series win over South Africa A in 2016.[2] However, this fixture was ultimately cancelled, due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Scotland squad.[3]
In November 2023, it was announced that England A would make another revival the following spring, coinciding with the 2024 Six Nations.[4] In their first game in eight years, England A achieved their biggest ever win, defeating Portugal by 91–5 in February 2024.[5] This marked the beginning of a more regular schedule of fixtures for the side, with another match against Australia A taking place in November of that year.[6]
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Concept
England A are seen as an integral part of the RFU's development process:[7]
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.
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Recent results
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The following is a list of England A's recent match results, since the team's revival in February 2024, as well as upcoming scheduled fixtures:
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' |
Attendance: 15,123 Referee: Luc Ramos (France) | |
| England A: Forwards – 1. Baxter 2. Blamire 3. Heyes 4. Tuima 5. Ewels (c) 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 |
28–12 |  Ireland A |
Ashton Gate, Bristol | |
| 13:00 GMT (UTC+0) | Try: Hassell-Collins 13' c Van Poortvliet 25' c Fisilau 74' c Penalty try 80' Con: Atkinson (2/2) 14', 26' Shillcock (1/1) 75' |
Report | Try: Bolton 17' m Gavin 76' c Con: Doak (1/1) 77' Cards: Deegan 80' to end' |
Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales) | |
| England A: Forwards – 1. Brantingham 2. Langdon (vc) 3. Kloska 4. Tizard 5. Lockett 6. Pearson 7. Kenningham 8. Barbeary Backs – 9. Van Poortvliet (c) 10. Atkinson 11. Hassell-Collins 12. Butt 13. Ojomoh 14. Elliott 15. Carpenter Substitutes – 16. Oghre 17. Haffar 18. Green 19. Capstick 20. Fisilau 21. Porter 22. Shillcock 23. Hendy | |||||
| Ireland A: Forwards – 1. O'Toole 2. Barron 3. Aungier 4. O'Connell 5. Murray 6. Deegan (c) 7. Kendellen 8. Jansen Backs – 9. Doak 10. Frawley 11. Bolton 12. Gavin 13. Postlethwaite 14. O'Brien 15. Daly Substitutes – 16. Smyth 17. McCarthy 18. Jager 19. O'Tighearnaigh 20. Soroka 21. Gunne 22. Byrne 23. Gleeson | |||||
| 21 June 2025 | England A |
v |  France A |
Allianz Stadium, London | |
| 15:15 BST (UTC+1) |
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Squad
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On 12 February 2025, a provisional 25-player squad was named in preparation for England A's fixture against Ireland A, taking place later that month, alongside the 2025 Six Nations.[8]
- Head / Attack Coach:
Lee Blackett (Bath) - Forwards Coach: Louis Deacon (England Women)
- Scrum Coach: Matt Ferguson (Northampton)
- Defence Coach: Haydn Thomas (Exeter)
Note: Players capped at senior international level are listed in bold.
Caps and clubs correct as of: 23 February 2025.
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References
External links
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