Scrum-half Ben White has marked his 21st birthday with a call-up to play for an England XV against the Barbarians alongside Leicester Tigers colleague Will Spencer at Twickenham next Sunday.
Tigers academy graduate White, who celebrates his 21st birthday today, has made more than 20 appearances in the 2018/19 season to firmly establish himself in first-team rugby, while Spencer marked his first season at Tigers with a nomination for supporters’ Player of the Year.
They are included in a 23-man squad selected by England XV head coach Jim Mallinder and meet up in London today to begin their preparations.
Marcus Smith’s inclusion means he will not travel with the England Under-20 squad to Argentina for the World Rugby Under-20 Championship.
The Quilter Cup match between England XV and the Barbarians is a 3.30pm kick-off on Sunday, following the women’s fixture at 12:45pm. Tickets for the Barbarians double header are available from £20 for adults and £10 juniors online at www.englandrugby.com/tickets. There is live coverage on Sky Sports.
England XV
Forwards
Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby)
Tom Ellis (Bath Rugby)
Ross Harrison (Sale Sharks)
Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints)
Paul Hill (Northampton Saints)
Beno Obano (Bath Rugby)
Ehren Painter (Northampton Saints)
Will Spencer (Leicester Tigers)
Elliott Stooke (Bath Rugby)
Tommy Taylor (Wasps)
Backs
Josh Bassett (Wasps)
Simon Hammersley (Newcastle Falcons)
Ben Loader (London Irish)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints)
Piers O’Conor (Bristol Bears)
Callum Sheedy (Bristol Bears)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Ben White (Leicester Tigers)
Johnny Williams (Newcastle Falcons)
Barbarians squad
Forwards: Joe Marler (Harlequins & England), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh), John Afoa (Bristol Bears & New Zealand), Finlay Bealham (Connacht & Ireland), David Heffernan (Connacht & Ireland), Richard Hibbard (Dragons & Wales), James Horwill (Harlequins & Australia), Chris Vui (Bristol Bears & Samoa), Steven Luatua (Bristol Bears & New Zealand), Facundo Isa (Toulon & Argentina), Liam Messam (Toulon & New Zealand), Viliame Mata (Edinburgh & Fiji), Francois Louw (Bath & South Africa)
Backs: Rhys Webb (Toulon & Wales), Rhodri Williams (Dragons & Wales), Colin Slade (Pau & New Zealand), Brock James (Bordeaux Begles), Mark Atkinson (Gloucester), Malakai Fekitoa (Toulon & New Zealand), Filipo Nakosi (Toulon), Taqele Naiyaravoro (Northampton Saints & Australia), Niyi Adeolokun (Connacht & Ireland), Charles Piutau (Bristol Bears & New Zealand)
