Steve Borthwick has finalised his list of 25 players on enhanced national contracts for the 2026-2027 season. The contracts, worth around £150,000 a year on top of club salaries, give the RFU control over the players’ preparation and recovery. A year out from the World Cup in Australia, they also sketch out the core of the England squad.

Five players come in: Gloucester centre Seb Atkinson, Northampton lock Alex Coles, Sale prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 22, Bath back row Guy Pepper and Leicester scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet. All have established themselves in the England squad over the past twelve months, notably during the Nations Championship.

The five departures tell the other side of the story. Ben Curry, held back all season by hamstring problems, played only four matches for Sale. Elliot Daly, who turns 34 in October, and wing Tom Roebuck, who has slipped down the pecking order, also drop off the list, as does Ollie Lawrence, who has struggled since his Achilles tendon injury. Tom Willis is a separate case: the number 8 never played for England during his year on a central contract, and his move to Bordeaux-Bègles effectively took him out of Borthwick’s plans, since selection remains closed to players based overseas.

The changes make for a clearly younger group: all five newcomers are younger than the five players who drop out. The 25 also include Henry Pollock, Maro Itoje, Tom Curry and fly-halves Fin Smith, Marcus Smith and George Ford. George Furbank, injured and uncapped since November 2024, keeps his contract, a sign of the head coach’s continued faith in him at full-back.