The summer games are already underway
Summer tour rugby squads have all been announced and some have already been in action, including the home nations.
England beat Japan and Wales lost to South Africa on Saturday. England are now heading into a series with New Zealand and Wales are competing against Australia.
Ireland, meanwhile, will take on the Rugby World Cup holders South Africa. Scotland, meanwhile, are competing against a whole host of different nations with their opposition being Canada, USA, Chile and Uruguay.
It is set to be a summer of pure rugby action but who has been selected for the home nations? There has already been some changes in the squads but below Rugby World talks you through the key points in each squad. Here is all you need to know.
England
Nick Isiekwe of England waves (Getty Images)
Steve Borthwick named a 36-player squad for this summer. Bath’s Charlie Ewels was initially named and played against Japan. However, he has received a two-game ban after his red card against Japan on 22 June.
This has seen Nick Isiekwe come into the team. The full squad is below.
Forwards: Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Joe Marler (Harlequins), George Martin (Leicester Tigers), Gabriel Oghre (Bristol Bears), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Ethan Roots (Exeter Chiefs), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Backs: Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Luke Northmore (Harlequins), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
Wales
Dewi Lake is tackled by Kwagga Smith (Getty Images)
Wales thought they were boosted with Jac Morgan in their squad but he has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. The skipper also missed the Six Nations through injury with a knee problem.
There are also other injury worries with Cory Hill not able to play against South Africa. Full squad is below.
Forwards: Corey Domachowski (Cardiff Rugby), Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets), Gareth Thomas (Ospreys), Efan Daniel (Cardiff Rugby), Dewi Lake (Ospreys), Evan Lloyd (Cardiff Rugby), Archie Griffin (Bath Rugby), Dillon Lewis (Harlequins), Harri O’Connor (Scarlets), Ben Carter (Dragons), Cory Hill (Secom Rugguts), Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs), Matthew Screech (Dragons), Christ Tshiunza (Exeter Chiefs), James Botham (Cardiff Rugby), Mackenzie Martin (Cardiff Rugby), Taine Plumtree (Scarlets), Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers) Aaron Wainwright (Dragons)
Backs: Ellis Bevan (Cardiff), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Kieran Hardy (Scarlets), Sam Costelow (Scarlets), Mason Grady (Cardiff), Eddie James (Scarlets). Ben Thomas (Cardiff), Nick Tompkins (Saracens), Owen Watkin (Ospreys), Rio Dyer (Dragons), Regan Grace (Bath Rugby), Josh Hathaway (Gloucester), Liam Williams (Kubota Spears), Jacob Beetham (Cardiff), Cameron Winnett (Cardiff)
Ireland
Garry Ringrose (Getty Images)
Andy Farrell has been dealt a blow for his summer’s tour against South Africa. Jamison Gibson-Park is unavailable due to injury and Jack Conan is also not a part of the squad because of personal reasons.
One boost for the team is the return of Garry Ringrose. He missed out on the majority of the Six Nations with injury but could return to the international stage after being named in the squad. Full team is below.
Forwards: Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht), Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster), Caelan Doris (St Mary’s College/Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch), Cormac Izuchukwu (Ulster/Ballynahinch), Oli Jager (Munster), Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster), Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)(captain), Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Nick Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 62
Backs: Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht), Caolin Blade (Galwegians/Connacht), Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster), Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster), Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 72Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster), James Lowe (Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster), Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster), Jimmy O’Brien (Naas/Leinster), Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster), Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster)
Scotland
Finn Russell won’t be involved this summer (Getty Images)
Scotland’s summer tour squad top line is Finn Russell will not be a part of the team. He has made himself unavailable due to personal reasons. Other stars like Blair Kinghorn are also not included.
The other headline is that Gregor Townsend has included 10 uncapped players.
Nathan McBeth, Patrick Harrison, Robbie Smith, Will Hurd, Max Williamson, Ewan Johnson, Gregor Brown, Gus Warr, Arron Reed and Matt Currie have all been named. They have the opportunity to show their skills to the head coach to try and win their first caps.
Full squad is below.
Forwards: Ewan Ashman (Edinburgh Rugby) Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby), Gregor Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Alex Craig (Scarlets), Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors), Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors), Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Patrick Harrison (Edinburgh Rugby), Will Hurd (Leicester Tigers), Ewan Johnson (Oyonnax Rugby), Nathan McBeth (Glasgow Warriors), Elliot Millar-Mills (Northampton Saints), Javan Sebastian (Edinburgh Rugby), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby), Robbie Smith (Northampton Saints), Rory Sutherland (Oyonnax Rugby), Dylan Richardson (The Sharks), Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby), Murphy Walker (Glasgow Warriors), Max Williamson (Glasgow Warriors), Glen Young (Edinburgh Rugby)
Backs: Matt Currie (Edinburgh Rugby), Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors), Adam Hastings (Gloucester Rugby), Ben Healy (Edinburgh Rugby), George Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors), Harry Paterson (Edinburgh Rugby), Arron Reed (Sale Sharks), Kyle Rowe (Glasgow Warriors), Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors), Ross Thompson (Glasgow Warriors), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby), Gus Warr (Sale Sharks)
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