Luke Northmore (Harlequins)
Luke Northmore’s journey to the England touring squad has come after years of bided patience, with the 27-year-old the oldest uncapped player set to fly out to Japan and New Zealand. Northmore has been apart of Harlequins since 2019, with the one-club man steadily progressing after finishing up his scholarship to Cardiff Metropolitan University. The centre’s first run out in the famous quarters took place in a London derby, as Quins were defeated by Saracens in a 2019 Premiership Rugby Cup fixture.
The midfielder did not have to wait long to get his first Quins try, as he scored on only his third cap, coming against Clermont Auvergne in the 2019 Champions Cup pool stages. Northmore is a versatile player that can bolster the England back-line across the inside and outside centre channels and along both wings. His most prominent position is outside centre, with 73% of his caps coming in the 13 jersey. This passed season he routinely swapped the 12 and 13 shirts for Harlequins, which gives Borthwick a multi-tool player that can adapt to numerous scenarios.
Northmore was called up into the England camp the same day as his Harlequins teammate Fin Baxter. Both Quins bolters were named in the initial 19-man training group, and have kept their places following the end of the Premiership season. Speaking on the call-up for his Harlequins teammate, Fin Baxter said; “So excited for him to be here. He’s done really well to get back from his injury and come in and play well, which was really nice to see. But yeah, we’re just buzzing, buzzing chatting to each other.”
Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)
The sixth man rounding off our list of uncapped players, Sale wing Tom Roebuck has also had to patiently bide his time for an England debut. Roebuck received his first England camp call-up from Steve Borthwick for the 2024 Guinness Six Nations, yet failed to progress further than the wider training group. The match day squads evaded the Sale wing, yet opportunity knocks once more for the electric 23-year-old.
Roebuck could well benefit from a notable England squad omission, as Elliot Daly has stepped away from the camp ahead of the birth of his first child. The Saracen Swiss-army knife was England’s go to left wing for the recent Six Nations Championships, with Borthwick preferring the experienced Daly over the young Roebuck. Now could be the time for the Sale man to earn his long awaited debut, and has gone the right way about returning to the squad, following an impressive 2023/24 Premiership campaign that saw him score 12 tries.
England head coach Steve Borthwick shared his view on Roebuck, and has been impressed by the young Sale man’s continued drive for a test cap. “As you look at them, Tom Roebuck is a player who was part of that Six Nations squad, who was chomping at the bit for an opportunity in the match day 23. He didn’t get that during the Six Nations, and was disappointed but still so eager to perform in training. And I would say his post-Six Nations return to club, his game’s taken another step forward. He’s another player who I’m excited about what he can achieve in the future.”
