England are facing a shortage at hooker for their final match of the summer against the United States.
Jamie George co-captained Steve Borthwick’s new-look side missing 13 key players on British and Irish Lions duty during the 35-12 First Test win over Argentina in La Plata last weekend, and was due to do so again in the Second Test on Saturday.
However, George was pulled from the squad on the day of the game in San Juan having received a late call-up of his own to the Lions squad in Australia in the aftermath of a head injury suffered by Luke Cowan-Dickie hours earlier during the first half of the tourists’ final Test warm-up fixture against an AUNZ Invitational XV in Adelaide.
George - who trained with the Lions in both Portugal and Dublin earlier this summer - said he still wanted to play for England and was in attendance for the series-clinching 22-17 victory sealed by Jack van Poortvliet’s last-gasp try, but was not permitted as he prepared to embark on an arduous 10,000-mile journey from San Juan to Brisbane, where the Lions play the First Test against Australia at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
Fellow Saracen Theo Dan started at hooker instead for England against Argentina, with Curtis Langdon promoted to the bench to make his first international appearance since 2021 after impressive domestic form for Northampton Saints.
However, Dan suffered a knee injury in San Juan and was replaced shortly after half-time by Langdon, leaving Borthwick with a front-row problem ahead of the final one-off summer Test against the USA in Washington D.C. on Saturday.
With George joining the Lions and Dan ruled out, the England head coach has moved to called up uncapped Bristol hooker Gabriel Oghre and Newcastle’s Jamie Blamire, who has seven senior international appearances to his name but none since 2023.
That duo will now presumably compete to be Langdon’s back-up for a meeting with the Eagles at Audi Field.
England had already seen experienced centre Henry Slade ruled out for the remainder of the tour with a hand injury, with no replacement called up and Harlequins’ Luke Northmore making his debut in the Second Test against Argentina.
Gloucester’s Seb Atkinson and Premiership title-winning Bath pair Guy Pepper and Will Muir have also made their England debuts on this trip so far.
George joins a flurry of new call-ups to the Lions squad ahead of three Tests against the Wallabies, with fellow hooker Ewan Ashman, prop Rory Sutherland and wing Darcy Graham all heading to Australia after Scotland’s weekend loss to Fiji as cover for the meeting with a First Nations & Pasifika XV, which comes in Melbourne between the First and Second Tests on July 22.
Ireland prop Tom Clarkson and versatile back Jamie Osborne are also joining Andy Farrell’s expanded group Down Under, with Garry Ringrose ruled out of the First Test due to concussion, Blair Kinghorn in a race to recover from a knee injury and Cowan-Dickie expected to be sidelined.
