Josh van der Flier’s cousin Archie lands surprise England call-up
Prop is yet to start a Prem match for Leicester Tigers but has caught the eye with his performances off the bench
Archie van der Flier, the Leicester prop and cousin of Ireland flanker Josh, has received a surprise call-up to the England training squad for this Friday’s uncapped match against France.
The call rounds off a remarkable breakthrough season for Van der Flier, who last season was playing for Nottingham in the Champ.
The 24-year-old is yet to start a Prem match for Tigers but was mightily impressive off the bench during Leicester’s surge to the Prem play-offs, with Nicky Smith the starting loosehead. Van der Flier, who came off the bench for England A against Ireland XV in February, replaced the Welshman after 44 minutes of the Tigers’ play-off loss to Northampton last Friday night.
The latest iteration of Steve Borthwick’s England squad includes players from the losing Prem semi-finalists, Leicester and Bath, but not those from Northampton or Exeter, who compete in the final this Saturday at the Allianz Stadium. Borthwick is yet to name a captain but will name his starting XV to face France on Wednesday morning.
Alongside Van der Flier, Leicester’s Jamie Blamire, Joe Heyes, Ollie Chessum, George Martin, Jack van Poortvliet, Freddie Steward and Adam Radwan are all included.
From Bath, Charlie Ewels, Ted Hill, Beno Obano, Vilikesa Sela, and Max Ojomoh have all been called up, while Guy Pepper is listed as one of four players for injury rehabilitation. As with the two-day minicamp in May, there is no place for Sam Underhill, Ollie Lawrence or Henry Arundell, while Kepu Tuipulotu and Ben Spencer have been omitted from the squad.
As far as changes from last week’s squad, where no player featuring in either of the two Prem play-offs was included, Afo Fasogbon, Will Hobson, Nathan Jibulu, Tobias Elliott and Ben Redshaw have all been omitted.
Arthur Clark, Ellis Genge and Luke Cowan-Dickie are all listed for rehabilitation alongside Pepper. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s name is omitted from the rehabilitation list, opening up the possibility that the Exeter wing might be fit for this weekend’s Prem final against Northampton.
England face France in an uncapped match this Friday night in Vannes before consecutive Tests against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina in July. Fabien Galthié, the France head coach, has named a strong squad for this Friday night, with Bordeaux centres Yoram Moefana and Nicolas Depoortère both selected alongside Théo Attissogbe and Nolan Le Garrec.
