England star set to miss all Nations Championship fixtures this summer after a ‘challenging year’

England ‘A’ have named their team to face a France XV in Vannes on Friday in an uncapped fixture with several high-profile names missing.

One key reason behind the absence of several notable players is the fact that they will be involved with either Northampton Saints or Exeter Chiefs in the PREM final on Saturday.

Steve Borthwick will be watching both games closely as he weighs up who will start in England’s first game of the Nations Championship when they face South Africa.

The England head coach has been talking to Sky Sports about several of his selections for the summer tour, where they will also face Fiji and Argentina.

There was one noticeable absentee from the squad in the shape of their captain, Maro Itoje, with Borthwick hoping that the Saracens star is not needed this summer for international duty.

Borthwick said: “I think that we look at each player on an individual basis.

“There's been an ongoing conversation regarding Maro and whether he's part of the England squad this summer.

England Steve Borthwick

“As you can see by the fact that he's not in the squad and was only in one day of the last alignment camp, it's certainly an intention that Maro has an opportunity for a different type of summer, one where he's not involved with the England team.

"But clearly those decisions are all taken in the context of a multitude of factors.

"We've got a game on Friday night; we've got the Prem final on Saturday, and we'll make that decision after the game."

The England head coach believes that Itoje has had a ‘challenging year’ following the passing of his mother just before the Six Nations, a campaign that will have been tough for the captain as the nation lost four of their five matches, including an infamous defeat to Italy in Rome.

While Itoje had the honour last summer of captaining the British and Irish Lions to a series win over Australia, Saracens and England have since struggled.

Borthwick will be desperate to end the losing streak England find themselves in, having lost their last four fixtures, but this will not be easy as they travel to face the Springboks at the start of July.

The England head coach has not ruled out Itoje being selected for the summer squad, but it appears he would like to give the 31-year-old time off from international duty to be firing ahead of the World Cup next year.