Introducing England's new faces
With England head coach Eddie Jones having named a 35-man squad, we take a look at the four uncapped players included.
Jack Singleton
Club: Saracens
England fans will remember Jack Singleton from when he started for Eddie Jones in the non-Test meet with the Barbarians at Twickenham in May 2018.
Despite the 65-43 loss that day, the hooker showed great promise, most notably making a break to set up a Piers Francis try. That performance, plus good domestic form, was enough for Eddie Jones to call him into the South Africa touring group in 2018, after Luke Cowan-Dickie experienced hamstring tightness following the first Test in Johannesburg, though he did not feature in a Test.
The 23-year-old signed a first team contract with Worcester Warriors ahead of the 2017/18 season, where he went on to throw the most successful lineouts of anyone in the league (225), and complete 94% of his tackles.
The hooker, who penned a three year deal with Saracens in April, is a former England U20 international who won the World Rugby U20 Championship title in 2016.
Willi Heinz
Club: Gloucester
Since his arrival in the West Country, Willi Heinz has had a positive impact on Gloucester Rugby.
The scrum half joined the Cherry & Whites ahead of the 2015/16 season from Kiwi giants the Crusaders in Super Rugby.
An experienced campaigner at 32, Heinz was named Gloucester captain ahead of the 2017/18 season. He led them to a play-off spot for the first time in eight years last term, and has crossed the whitewash 13 times in 80 appearances for Johan Ackermann’s men.
He was called into England's training camp in May 2017, but did not make the summer tours to either Argentina or South Africa the following year.
Ruaridh McConnochie
Club: Bath
A former England sevens star, Ruaridh McConnochie switched to 15-a-side rugby for the 2018/19 season, joining Bath.
He was an Olympic silver medallist with Great Britain at the 2016 Games in Rio and a World Cup finalist with England in San Francisco.
His transition to the 15-a-side format has been seamless, scoring four tries in 15 Premiership matches, he has also featured in Europe. And his exploits haven’t gone unnoticed at the West Country side, as McConnochie signed a new four-year contract with them in June.
Taking up the game at the age of seven with London Scottish, McConnochie captained his sevens side at Cranbrook School and went on to represent England at student and county level.
Lewis Ludlam
Club: Northampton Saints
Lewis Ludlam began his rugby career as a centre before moving into the back row, where he now plies his trade at Northampton Saints.
He made his full Premiership debut in the first game of the 2017/2018 season against Saracens in the London Double Header at Twickenham, where he scored a try.
He has crossed four times since then in 42 appearances for the Saints, with last season in particular being a breakthrough year, with solid domestic performances that saw him feature in the Premiership semi-final loss to Exeter Chiefs.
His England U20 debut came in the 59-7 win over Japan in the World Rugby U20 Championship. A tournament he was voted as England’s best player for in 2015, where he started four matches, and produced an outstanding performance in the final against New Zealand in Cremona.
