Warriors trio Ben Te’o, Nick Schonert and Ted Hill have been included in England’s 36-strong training squad to prepare for the first Quilter International against South Africa at Twickenham last week.
Tighthead prop Schonert and blindside flanker Hill are among eight uncapped players in the squad who will fly to Portugal for a training camp next week.
Schonert has featured in England squads before and played in the non-cap match against the Barbarians at the end of last season. Hill’s inclusion in the squad as an apprentice player comes after a string of impressive performances for Warriors this season.
Te’o returns to the England squad having recovered from the quadriceps injury which ruled him out of the summer tour to South Africa. The British and Irish Lions international won the last of his 13 England caps against Ireland in last season’s Six Nations at Twickenham.
England head coach Eddie Jones said: “I’m really happy with the squad. We can only control what we can control and injuries have happened. It gives an opportunity for some good new players to play some important Tests for England while players who have been in the squad before, will have to take on more responsibility.
“We have taken a slightly different approach this year. With the World Cup in mind we are going to Portugal in the middle of next week until the Thursday of the Test week so will be back to train at Twickenham the day before we play South Africa. As well as giving the players a different experience it also gives them some rest after their club matches before joining up with England.
“The Portugal camp is about getting the team organised. The players have all been playing in different systems and with different ideas at their clubs so it’s about producing a team that is absolutely brutal in the physical contest, as the game demands, and also playing a smart English brand of rugby.”
“South Africa have been going really well. They have a new coach and have selected well. They play a traditional Springbok game up front and move the ball wide when they need to. We’ll need to take them on up front and when we have opportunities to score points we have to be good enough to take them.
“We love Twickenham. The players feel the support and we can’t wait to get out there and play in front of 82,000 against South Africa.”
England will play South Africa (November 3), New Zealand (November 10), Japan (November 17) and Australia (November 24) at Twickenham Stadium, with the kick off for all games at 3pm. England will travel to Portugal on Wednesday October 24 to begin their preparations for the four-Test series.
A 23-man squad will be confirmed on Tuesday October 30 ahead of the Test against the Springboks on 3 November. England will fly back to London from Portugal following the Test squad announcement on Thursday 1 November.
England squad:
Forwards (20)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints) co-captain
Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs)
Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors) *
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
George Kruis (Saracens)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby)
Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs)
Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Michael Rhodes (Saracens)
Nick Schonert (Worcester Warriors)
Brad Shields (Wasps)
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)
Elliott Stooke (Bath Rugby)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)
Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)
Backs (16)
Chris Ashton (Sale Sharks)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby)
Elliot Daly (Wasps)
Nathan Earle (Harlequins)
Owen Farrell (Saracens) co-captain
George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
Jonny May (Leicester Tigers)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)
Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
*Apprentice