Do not confuse the end of the Six Nations with Steve Borthwick taking it easy. The England head coach was at Kingsholm on Saturday and would have had an eye on a number of players in the mix to tour Argentina and the USA this summer.
Given there could be at least 10 England players away with the British and Irish Lions on the plane to Australia, that means there are gaps to fill in Borthwick’s squad. Here, in alphabetical order, are eight uncapped contenders that should tour.
Position: Centre Club: Gloucester Age: 22
An obvious place to start after his hat-trick against Bristol, although the highlight of Atkinson’s evening was not necessarily any of those finishes but a pummelling run through Harry Byrne to set up a try for Chris Harris. There is an obvious power to his game which England do not get from their other inside-centre candidates, as highlighted afterwards by his head coach George Skivington, who noted he had discussed Atkinson with Borthwick. He carries bigger than his size, even at 6ft 2in and 100kg.
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