England call up former junior Springbok for Nations Championship as Borthwick seeks impetus

Benhard Janse van Rensburg, a Bristol Bears midfielder and former South Africa U20 centre, has been called up to train with England ahead of the inaugural Nations Championship. He was selected over Bath pair Ollie Lawrence and Max Ojomoh despite not being officially available until 8 July. Eligibility will be granted on residency grounds after five years in the UK since joining London Irish. He will miss England’s Test against the Springboks on 4 July but could debut against Fiji at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium the following weekend. He may also play in a non-cap match against a France XV in Vannes on 19 June if he performs well in training. The Rugby Football Union sought World Rugby dispensation to allow residency qualification after a brief 2016 appearance for South Africa U20. Additional call-ups include Archie McParland, Charlie Bracken, Adam Radwan, and others.

"England have called up the former South African U20 centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg to train with the national squad ahead of this summer's inaugural Nations Championship. The Bristol Bears midfielder has been picked ahead of the omitted Bath pair Ollie Lawrence and Max Ojomoh despite not being officially available for England until 8 July. Janse van Rensburg will become eligible on residency grounds on the grounds he has been in the UK for five years since joining his former club London Irish."

"This means he will not be available for England's Test against the Springboks on 4 July but could potentially make a full debut against Fiji at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium the following weekend. The 29-year-old, may also feature in a non-cap game against a France XV in Vannes on 19 June, assuming he makes a good impression in training. He did not have the best of nights in Northampton last Friday when Bristol suffered a record 94-33 defeat and were repeatedly cut apart by a rampant Saints backline."

"The Rugby Football Union had to make a special appeal to World Rugby for dispensation to consider Janse van Rensburg, who played 21 minutes as a late replacement for South Africa's U20 side back in 2016. This made him technically ineligible to qualify for England on residency grounds, until the RFU successfully argued that it was unfair for that brief appearance to bind him to South Africa in perpetuity."

"Borthwick is clearly seeking fresh ways to inject momentum into his squad following the team's fifth-placed finish in the Six Nations which saw England lose four of their five games. There are also call-ups for the impressive young Northampton scrum-half Archie McParland and Saracens' fast-rising No9 Charlie Bracken, along with a recall for the rapid Leicester wing Adam Radwan. Radwan has nipped in ahead of the unfortunate Arundell with Saracens' Noah Caluori also included in a 42-man squad."

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