
Following a physically and statistically taxing weekend of games for the Premiership clubs in Europe, Steve Borthwick was obliged to make five changes to his England training group in preparation for the forthcoming Guinness Six Nations.
Scrum-half for bath After being controversially excluded from the initial team that Borthwick announced last week, Ben Spencer is one of two number nines recruited to the England camp.
The Bath captain started the first two Tests of the Autumn Nations Series but then failed to feature in the second two however has now earned a recall.
Due to injuries sustained this weekend by Northampton Saints’ Alex Mitchell and Leicester Tigers’ Jack van Poortvliet, Spencer and Sale Sharks’ Raffi Quirke return to the team.
Mitchell, a strong candidate for the British and Irish Lions and Borthwick’s first choice in the number nine shirt, will go to Girona with the team for the training camp so he can continue to recover with the playing group.
Due to the selection, Spencer and every England player in camp will not be able to play in this weekend’s Premiership matches. Bath will play Sale Sharks in Round 11 on Sunday.

Saints hooker Curtis Langdon replaces Saracens’ Jamie George, Gloucester lock Arthur Clark has also been brought in as a cover for Northampton’s Alex Coles, and Harlequins number eight Alex Dombrandt is dropped to make room for flanker Henry Pollack, who may be the most exciting prospect in English rugby for the past ten years.
Clark, still just 23, has risen to the fore in the last few years, professing from an England U20s Six Nations Grand Slam winner in 2021 to represent England A in the Autumn in the win against Australia A.
The 6ft 7in lock is one of many young success stories at the Cherry and Whites in recent years having been recognised for his talent playing for Stow on the Wold RFC as a junior to join the Premiership club’s academy before establishing himself as a first-team regular in the last year.
Borthwick was an interested spectator at Kingsholm last week as the Cherry and Whites dispatched the Scarlets 31-7 with Clark starting in the number five jersey alongside Freddie Thomas who has been called into the Welsh squad again after making his international debut against South Africa in the Autumn.
England kick off their Six Nations campaign on February 1 away in Ireland.