They always say the Champions Cup is the closest domestic rugby gets to test-match level – and on that basis, those who shine in Europe’s premier competition do themselves no harm in the eyes of international coaches.

With a little over two weeks to go before the Autumn Internationals, I thought I’d dust off The Rugby Blog’s stock checker to see which England players’ chances rose or fell before tomorrow’s squad announcement.

Going up

Jonny May
Two scores against Castres take him to nine tries in eight matches. According to Ben Youngs, he has apparently styled himself the ‘new Jamie Vardy’ (oh dear…), but the fact remains May has made the best scoring start to a career at the Tigers since 1934.

May has had to bide his time as England’s fourth-choice winger for most of Eddie Jones tenure, something further reinforced when Jack Nowell, Anthony Watson and Elliot Daly were all chosen for the Lions tour. However, those three have been in good, if not spectacular, form since their return, while May is running in tries like they are going out of fashion. Joining fellow England teammates George Ford and Ben Youngs at Tigers will help his case as well – May will likely be one of the starting wingers.

Don Armand
Two tries for the abrasive Zimbabwean flanker at the weekend, alongside impressive defensive work (he even managed to stop the French freight train Louis Picamoles over the line at one point) marked an eye-catching performance as the Chiefs beat a powerful Montpellier side.

The owner of a solitary cap for England, Armand is on the fringes of this England team. However, the seven shirt is once again a muddled position; with James Haskell not in the same form that earned him man-of-the-series in that whitewash of Australia, and Jack Clifford’s injury, Jones is having to look to his backups. Probably the frontrunner is Sam Underhill, enjoying a great start to the season at Bath, but Armand is an interesting alternative – combative, with an impressive work rate and a great line-out option, he would add some real steel to the England pack.

He is probably ahead of backrowers Tom Wood, Teimana Harrison and Tom Curry at the moment, competing with Underhill for the shirt.

Ellis Genge
I get accused of constantly writing about Henry Slade, and Genge is in danger of joining him with that dubious accolade. But he is just such an exciting player to watch. Against Castres at the weekend, it was Genge’s rhino-like charges that started several of Leicester’s tries; and he finished with nine runs for 44 metres made, 8 defenders beaten, 2 clean breaks, and 2 offloads, all in in 60 minutes. Not a bad effort.

He has the misfortune of two Lions in front of him – but with Marler’s most recent brush with the citing commissioner (see below), Genge might just find himself in the match-day 23.

Was going up but…
Nathan Hughes
A man-of-the-match performance by the fearsome number eight ignited Wasps’ dangerous attacking game for the first time this season, beating Harlequins 41-10 to end a five-game losing streak. Three clean breaks and four defenders beaten from his nine runs illustrate a very impressive performance. England fans began to breathe a sigh of relief given Billy Vunipola’s and Jack Clifford’s injuries and the lack of experienced options to play number eight.

However, there might still be a hitch as Hughes was cited for an arm to the head of Quins flyhalf Marcus Smith. The results of that citing are due later today, with the lowest entry punishment, if found guilty, two weeks. That would free him to play in England’s first test, but anything more and we have a problem – given Hughes form and comparative experience, he is way ahead of the alternatives.

This same ruling also applies to Dylan Hartley and Joe Marler (although neither have shown the same form that Hughes did at the weekend). Hartley may be particularly at risk given his six-week ban last December for catching Sean O’Brien with a swinging arm, and 60 weeks total suspension. I will say – even putting my English bias aside – I personally don’t feel any of these were ‘red-card worthy’ and hope common sense prevails.

Going down
Marland Yarde
Given the comments above about England’s normal first choice wingers struggling a little, now is a great opportunity for the alternatives to gain some ground.

And Yarde had show some great form recently, which meant Sunday’s Wasps game was perfect timing for him to press the point to Jones – however, he was dropped from the Harlequins squad due to a ‘disciplinary matter’.

Here’s the statement from his club: ‘Charlie Walker starts on the right wing after Marland Yarde was withdrawn from the squad following an internal disciplinary matter. The club will make no further comment on this.’

A lot will depend on the currently unconfirmed nature of what happened – although The Guardian has blamed it on his ‘poor-time keeping and attitude’ – but given Eddie Jones recent experience of poor behaviour by his backs, this represents very bad timing by Yarde.

Who do you think has furthered their case for international selection?

By Henry Ker