Saints centre Francis gets England call for South Africa tour

Saints will have a representative on England's tour of South Africa this summer after Piers Francis got the call on Tuesday evening.
Piers Francis will be on England's tour of South Africa (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)Piers Francis will be on England's tour of South Africa (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)
Piers Francis will be on England's tour of South Africa (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)

Francis impressed during Sunday's 63-45 defeat to the Barbarians at Twickenham, scoring twice and playing the full 80 minutes.

England boss Eddie Jones singled the 27-year-old out for praise in his post-match interview.

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And Francis, a centre who can also play at fly-half, has now been added to the tour squad by Jones.

A total of 34 players will make the trip to face the Springboks, with England flying out on Saturday for the three-Test tour, which kicks off in Johannesburg on June 9.

Francis made a total of 21 appearances for Saints last season, having joined from Super Rugby side the Blues last summer.

He has won three Test caps to date, having made his England debut on last summer's tour of Argentina.

England squad for South Africa tour

Mike Brown (Harlequins)

Danny Cipriani (Wasps)

Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)

Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)

Elliot Daly (Wasps)

Ben Earl (Saracens) *

Nathan Earle (Saracens) *

Owen Farrell (Saracens)

George Ford (Leicester Tigers)

Piers Francis (Saints)

Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)

Jamie George (Saracens)

Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs) *

Nathan Hughes (Wasps)

Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)

Maro Itoje (Saracens)

Joe Launchbury (Wasps)

Alex Lozowski (Saracens)

Joe Marler (Harlequins)

Jonny May (Leicester Tigers)

Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)

Dan Robson (Wasps) *

Brad Shields (Hurricanes/ Wasps) *

Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)

Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)

Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)

Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks)

Ben Spencer (Saracens) *

Billy Vunipola (Saracens)

Mako Vunipola (Saracens)

Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)

Mark Wilson (Newcastle)

Jason Woodward (Gloucester Rugby) *

Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

Uncapped *

Fixtures

June 9: South Africa v England - Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg

June 16: South Africa v England - Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein

June 23: South Africa v England - DHL Newlands, Cape Town