Pollock named in England A squad to face Australia
Henry Pollock has previously captained England Under-18s and is a product of the Northampton Saints academy
- Published
Flanker Henry Pollock and props Afolabi Fasogbon and Vilikesa Sela have been named in the England A squad to face Australia A.
The young trio were involved in the England Under-20 team's World Cup victory this year.
Pollock, 19, plays for Northampton Saints and can also feature as a number eight, while 20-year-old Fasogbon and 19-year-old Sela represent Gloucester and Bath respectively.
Senior internationals Tom Willis, Joe Heyes, Ted Hill, Curtis Langdon, Tom Pearson, Tom Roebuck and Fraser Dingwall, who will captain the squad, have also been included.
England A will host Australia A at Twickenham Stoop on Sunday 17 November, while another fixture against Ireland A at Bristol's Ashton Gate has also been confirmed for February.
"If we didn’t feel they were worth looking at, they wouldn’t be looked at," said England A head coach Mark Mapletoft of Pollock, Fasogbon and Sela, who he guided to age-grade global success in the summer.
"This has been a collaborative process with the seniors because that is ultimately where we are trying to earmark these players for. There have been some super-positive conversations with Steve and the senior staff around if this is the right time for them.
"And it should be difficult shouldn’t it? It should be a stretch for those lads. We don’t want to overstretch them but we don’t want them in their comfort zone too much either. It will be great experience."
England A squad
Forwards: Joe Batley (Bristol Bears), Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester), Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Ted Hill (Bath), Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints), Nathan Jibulu (Harlequins), Curtis Langdon (Northampton Saints), Gabriel Oghre (Bristol Bears), Tom Pearson (Northampton Saints), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints), Vilikesa Sela (Bath), Tom Willis (Saracens)
Backs: Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester), Oscar Beard (Harlequins), Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks), Fraser Dingwall (captain, Northampton Saints), Gabriel Ibitoye (Bristol Bears), Archie McParland (Northampton Saints), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Max Ojomoh (Bath), Will Porter (Harlequins), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Jamie Shillcock (Leicester Tigers)