FORMER Worcester Warriors back Jamie Shillcock will represent England for the first time later this month.

The fly-half, who now plays for Leicester Tigers in the Gallagher Premiership, has been selected in a 27-man provisional training squad for the England ‘A’ fixture against Portugal at Leicester’s Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium on February 25.

England have named five capped players at senior level in what is a strong squad for the visit of everyone's favourite second team at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Hooker Jamie Blamire, back-five forward Nick Isiekwe and flanker Tom Pearson have already been involved in training camps for the Guinness Six Nations without being selected by head coach Steve Borthwick.

Scrum-half Harry Randall and wing Ollie Hassell-Collins complete the contingent of players with Test experience, set to be involved in the first ‘A’ fixture since 2016.

The 27-man group begin preparations on Tuesday when they will be strengthened by additional personnel from Borthwick’s Six Nations squad, who are preparing for their clash with Scotland on Saturday week.

“We’re delighted to see the return of A Team rugby as such an important part of our development,” Borthwick said.

“We have selected players in this initial squad who we believe have the potential to be in the England team in the very near future.”