Benhard Janse van Rensburg called up to England training squad

Former South Africa Under-20 centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg has been called up to the England training squad in the clearest indication yet that head coach Steve Borthwick intends to blood him this summer.

Bristol's Janse van Rensburg had been tied to South Africa at Test level by a single 20-minute appearance for the 'Baby Boks' in 2016, but the Rugby Football Union (RFU) successfully appealed to World Rugby last year that his emergency injury cover cameo should not mean he is only eligible for the Springboks.

It was initially thought that Janse van Rensburg, who joined London Irish in 2021 before moving to Ashton Gate, would only qualify for England on the five-year residency ground in November.

However, his paperwork makes him eligible to play against Fiji on 11 July and Argentina on 18 July.

He will not qualify for England in time to face South Africa in Johannesburg on 4 July in the opening round of this summer's Nations Championship.

Janse van Rensburg's inclusion comes at the expense of Bath pair Ollie Lawrence and Max Ojomoh, who are left out.

Fraser Dingwall, Seb Atkinson and Henry Slade are the other specialist midfielders who make the cut.

Lawrence and Ojomoh's club team-mate Henry Arundell is also absent, despite scoring nine tries in his past seven club appearances.

The wing endured a difficult Six Nations, scoring an opening-round hat-trick against Wales, shown a 20-minute red card in the defeat by Scotland and dropped after the 42-21 defeat by Ireland.