No Saints representation on England tour of South Africa as Gibson is overlooked

Stand-out Saints player Jamie Gibson has been overlooked for England's summer tour of South Africa with no member of the Northampton squad making the cut.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th May 2018, 12:56 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 01:31 BST
Jamie Gibson has been overlooked by England (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)Jamie Gibson has been overlooked by England (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)
Jamie Gibson has been overlooked by England (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)

Gibson, who looks hugely likely to be named player of the season at tonight's end-of-season awards, was unable to force his way into the back row picture.Instead, England have immediately handed Brad Shields a call-up, with the Hurricanes back row forward joining Wasps this summer.Saints' other most likely representatives in South Africa, Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes, are not considered for selection as both are injured.Hartley has concussion, while Lawes is recovering from a knee injury.Harry Mallinder was also not considered for selection.England will play South Africa in three Tests in Johannesburg (June 9), Bloemfontein (June 16) and Cape Town (June 23).And England boss Eddie Jones said: "It will be the most exciting challenge for us as a group since 2016. "We have an opportunity to create some history next month and win the Test series, something no England side has done before.“There are a number of players out injured or not selected so it provides a big opportunity for others.“With three weeks to prepare for the first Test in Johannesburg I am expecting players to come into camp with the right mind-set and we will be looking for them to break the mould in terms of being more assertive and on the front foot in everything we do.“We will need to be physically aggressive and tactically smart against the Springboks who we know will be combative and reinvigorated by their new coaching setup.”Three Saints players have made it into the 31-man squad which will train in Brighton next week ahead of the tour and England’s Quilter Cup match against the Barbarians.Paul Hill, Teimana Harrison and Piers Francis will all be involved ahead of the clash with the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday, May 27.Following the conclusion of the Premiership semi finals next weekend, a final training squad will be confirmed to prepare for the match.England squad for South Africa TourBacksFull backsMike Brown (Harlequins)Elliot Daly (Wasps)Nathan Earle (Saracens) *Jonny May (Leicester Tigers)Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks)Inside backsDanny Cipriani (Wasps)Owen Farrell (Saracens)George Ford (Leicester Tigers)Alex Lozowski (Saracens)Cameron Redpath (Sale Sharks) *Dan Robson (Wasps) *Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)Ben Spencer (Saracens) *Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)ForwardsBack fiveTom Curry (Sale Sharks)Ben Earl (Saracens) *Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs) *Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)Maro Itoje (Saracens) Joe Launchbury (Wasps)Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)Brad Shields (Hurricanes/ Wasps) *Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)Billy Vunipola (Saracens)Jack Willis (Wasps) *Mark Wilson (Newcastle)Front rowLuke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)Jamie George (Saracens)Joe Marler (Harlequins)Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)Mako Vunipola (Saracens)Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)Uncapped *

Not considered for selectionBacksDanny Care (Harlequins)Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby) Harry Mallinder (Saints) Joe Marchant (Harlequins) Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs) Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath Rugby) Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers) Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby) Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)ForwardsJack Clifford (Harlequins) Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby)Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)Dylan Hartley (Saints) James Haskell (Wasps)Nathan Hughes (Wasps)George Kruis (Saracens) Courtney Lawes (Saints) Will Spencer (Worcester Warriors)Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)England training squad, Brighton (week commencing May 14)BacksFull backsMike Brown (Harlequins)Joe Cokanasiga (London Irish) *Ben Loader (London Irish)*Jonny May (Leicester Tigers)Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks)Jason Woodward (Gloucester Rugby)*Inside backsGeorge Ford (Leicester Tigers)Piers Francis (Saints)Ollie Lawrence (Worcester Warriors) *Cameron Redpath (Sale Sharks) *Marcus Smith (Harlequins) *Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)Ben Vellacott (Gloucester Rugby) *Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)ForwardsBack fiveJosh Beaumont (Sale Sharks) *Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)Tom Ellis (Bath Rugby) *Teimana Harrison (Saints)Josh McNally (London Irish)*Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby) *Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)Jono Ross (Sale Sharks)*Elliott Stooke (Bath Rugby) *Front rowEllis Genge (Leicester Tigers)Paul Hill (Saints)Joe Marler (Harlequins)George McGuigan (Leicester Tigers)*Beno Obano (Bath Rugby) *Nick Schonert (Worcester Warriors) *Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)Jack Singleton (Worcester Warriors) *

Related topics:EnglandSouth Africa