The first half of the all-new World Rugby Nations Championship is now behind us, with England turning somewhat of a corner.
A strong performance despite their defeat in the opening round gave some England fans hope of revival, which was followed up by two exceptional wins in their other Nations Championship matches.
The demolition of Fiji at the Hill Dickinson stadium ended a run of five matches without a win, before an away victory in Argentina against Los Pumas helped to build some momentum.
After what was a pivotal summer of fixtures for Steve Borthwick and his players, let's take a look at the winners and losers.
Winners
Guy Pepper
Having been on the bench for England's opener against South Africa, Guy Pepper firmly grasped the number seven shirt by the end of this summer's fixtures.
Despite a stuttering season for his club side, Pepper has been a stand-out in a poor run of results for England in recent months, doing himself no harm against either the Fijians or Argentina.
With England's next batch of fixtures set for the Autumn, it would be of no surprise to see the 23 year-old retain his spot as Steve Borthwick's first choice openside flanker.
George Martin
Back from a 14-month injury layoff, soon-to-be Saracens lock George Martin has slotted brilliantly back into the England side.
Helped by the exclusion of captain Maro Itoje, Martin started all of England's matches at the Nations Championship this summer, adding bulk and bite to a pack which have largely moved backwards in 2026.
With the England skipper set to return for the Autumn action, it is extremely likely that we will see the Itoje-Martin pairing in England's second row going forwards - provided that Martin remains injury free.
Henry Slade
HM: Seb Atkinson
Amid all the question marks over England's centre pairings of late, with Borthwick continuing to persist with the Tommy Freeman 13 experiment - which is yet to yeild any fruit for the England head coach - Slade and Atkinson have emerged from this tournament with their stocks as high as ever.
Freeman was typically poor at 13 in England's defeat at the Springboks, with an injury to Cadan Murley forcing him to return to his natural 14 shirt for the remainder of the summer.
Not only did Freeman excel back in his favoured position, but his 13 replacement - Henry Slade - brought significant balance and experience to England's midfield, which began to tick very nicely in England's next two matches.
Having looked set to be banished to the international wilderness sooner rather than later, Henry Slade has firmly put himself back in the driver's seat to partner Seb Atkinson in the England midfield.
Losers
Tom Curry
It was a summer to forget for Tom Curry.
The Sale Sharks back row entered the summer as his nation's premier option at openside flanker, but exited behind Guy Pepper in the pecking order.
Unusually slow at the breakdown and weak in the tackle, Curry's poor showing against the Springboks was enough to see him displaced from the starting XV, never to return.
Cadan Murley
Although harsh, Cadan Murley's injury came at the worst possible time this summer, only featuring in England's heavy defeat at the hands of the world champions.
In his place, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Tommy Freeman were excellent, surely establishing themselves as England's starting wing pairing.
It remains to be seen whether or not Murley is of the pedigree for international rugby, but his injury - and poor showing in England's opener - could dash his chances of becoming a regular for his national team.
Benhard Janse van Rensburg
After all the controversy of his selection, you'd be forgiven for finding Benhard Janse van Rensburg's summer to be underwhelming.
The Springbok-turned-Englishman didn't start a single match - having been unavailable against the Springboks - and his only notable contributions came as England ran away with the match against a 14-man Fiji side.
While he may yet prove to be an asset for Steve Borthwick going forward, Henry Slade appears to be ahead of van Rensburg in the pecking order for the number 13 shirt heading into the Autumn.
