England Men’s head coach Steve Borthwick has named the 25 players who will receive enhanced Elite Player Squad (EPS) contracts for the 2026/27 season – with Northampton Saints’ Alex Coles, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith and Tommy Freeman all included.
The contracts form part of the Men’s Professional Game Partnership, supporting the preparation and development of the England Men’s team.
Coles is the newest Saints inclusion to the EPS contract list, having featured in all of England’s last 15 internationals, starting with the Tests against Argentina and USA at the end of the 2024/25 campaign, before featuring in all of England’s subsequent Autumn Nations Series, Six Nations and Nations Championship – scoring two tries in the process.
Pollock also featured in the same dozen fixtures this season, while Tommy Freeman (10 games), Alex Mitchell (9), and Fin Smith (8) all featured prominently for their country last term.
England Men’s enhanced EPS contracts
Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby)
Fin Baxter (Harlequins)
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Ben Earl (Saracens)
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
George Ford (Sale Sharks)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
George Furbank (Harlequins)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
George Martin (Saracens)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)
Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby)
Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)