Borthwick reshuffles centrally contracted England squad, awards enhanced deals to five players
England head coach Steve Borthwick on 12 August 2026 announced a reshuffle of his centrally contracted squad for the 2026-27 season, with five players receiving enhanced deals, the Rugby Football Union said. The changes come with just over a year to go until the Rugby World Cup.
The RFU said 25 players will be offered enhanced player contracts, worth around £150,000 for the 2026-27 season, under arrangements first introduced in 2024 as part of the Professional Game Partnership with the Premiership clubs. The agreement gives Borthwick final say over medical and conditioning matters and replaces the game-by-game match fee model with a fixed payment for those players. The RFU added that the contracts "help ensure the best possible preparation for the England Men's team".
Handed an elite deal for the first time were prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour, lock Alex Coles, flanker Guy Pepper, scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet and centre Seb Atkinson. The RFU noted that Opoku-Fordjour made his senior England debut in 2024.
Several established names were omitted from the enhanced list: flanker Ben Curry, versatile back Elliot Daly, centre Ollie Lawrence and wing Tom Roebuck did not receive contracts. France-bound number eight Tom Willis is no longer eligible for England selection after agreeing a move to Bordeaux for next season.
The RFU statement added context on recent availability and selection: Curry and Daly have both been affected by long injury lay-offs over the past year, while Roebuck and Lawrence have fallen out of favour after previously being mainstays of the side. Willis had been handed an enhanced contract this time last year after cementing his place in the England set-up at the start of 2025 but has not played for his country since agreeing the move to Bordeaux.
Financial details in the RFU briefing contrasted the previous system: it is understood the current match fee is around £21,000 per game for non centrally-contracted players, while the enhanced squad players still receive an extra £7,000 per game for image rights on top of their fixed annual amount. The RFU acknowledged the new system has experienced teething problems, citing a dispute between Exeter and England over the treatment of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso's shoulder injury in late 2024 and early 2025.
England's recent results were also noted: after a long winning run in 2025, they won just one match in the Six Nations earlier this year but recovered to win two out of their three Nations Championship games in July.
Borthwick's reconfigured squad will host Australia, Japan and New Zealand this November in the northern hemisphere leg of the inaugural tournament.