Owen Farrell named World Cup captain as England announce 41-man training squad

England have named their World Cup training squad.

Steve Borthwick has confirmed Owen Farrell as England’s World Cup captain after naming his 41-strong training squad on Friday morning.

The England head coach made the announcement over two months out from their World Cup opener against Argentina in Marseille on September 9, with Ellis Genge and Courtney Lawes named as vice-captains.

Farrell’s form towards the end of the season with Saracens has silenced any suggestion he will not be the starting fly-half at the finals and now he will lead the team out in France.

Farrell to captain England World Cup squad.

Speaking after announcing Farrell as his skipper, Borthwick said: “I’m delighted to announce the England Rugby World Cup training squad.

“I think it’s a great blend of experience and youth I’m also excited to announce the England Rugby World Cup squad will be captained by Owen Farrell and vice-captains will be Ellis Genge and Courtney Lawes.

“I think we’ve got some great leaders in the team. I think that all of them are fantastic players. I met with Owen about 10 days ago. We spent about two hours walking around fields outside Harpenden, talking about everything we wanted to do with his team, everything we wanted to do with this programme, what we wanted to achieve.

“The passion in him, I think he’s a fantastic leader, the players have enormous respect for him and I’m looking forward to the full squad getting together on Sunday night here at the Lensbury (Resort) and start training on Monday morning.”

New caps.

Farrell’s uncapped club-mate Theo Dan made the cut for the training squad, despite the 22-year-old hooker only making his Saracens debut in November 2021, having delivered a series of impressive displays during the club’s Gallagher Premiership title-winning campaign.

There is also a call-up for uncapped back-row forward Tom Willis, who currently plays for Bordeaux-Begles. He joins his brother Jack in the squad.

But Exeter hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie has lost his battle to recover in time from a shoulder injury and will not be considered for World Cup selection, the Rugby Football Union announced.

Borthwick will name his final squad of 33 players on August 7 with England playing four World Cup warm-up games – facing Wales home and away, Ireland and Fiji – before beginning their tilt at going one step further than 2019, when they lost the final to South Africa.

Training squad: Backs – H Arundell (London Irish), D Care (Harlequins), J Cokanasiga (Bath), E Daly (Saracens), O Farrell (Saracens), G Ford (Sale), M Malins (Saracens), J Marchant (Harlequins), J May (Gloucester), C Murley (Harlequins), G Porter (Leicester), H Slade (Exeter), M Smith (Harlequins), F Steward (Leicester), M Tuilagi (Sale), J van Poortvliet (Leicester), A Watson (Leicester), B Youngs (Leicester).

Forwards – J Blamire (Newcastle), D Cole (Leicester), T Curry (Sale Sharks), T Dan (Saracens), A Dombrandt (Harlequins), B Earl (Saracens), E Genge (Bristol), J George (Saracens), J Hill (Sale), M Itoje (Saracens), C Lawes (Northampton), L Ludlam (Northampton), J Marler (Harlequins), G Martin (Leicester), T Pearson (London Irish), V Rapava-Ruskin (Gloucester), D Ribbans (Northampton), B Rodd (Sale), K Sinckler (Bristol), W Stuart (Bath), S Underhill (Bath), J Willis (Toulouse), T Willis (Bordeaux-Begles).