The squad meets up on Sunday 1 June, before flying to Ottawa the following day.  They will have just five days to prepare for the opening match against the USA the following Saturday.

After pool matches against the USA (Ottawa, June 7) and Ireland A (Toronto, June 14), the Saxons will be hoping to secure a place in Chicago’s final the following Saturday, where they will face either Scotland A, Argentina XV or Canada.

After hearing of his selection, Alex told the Bristol Rugby website:

"It did come as a surprise but a pleasant surprise. I haven't played that much in the past few weeks so I'm pretty rested up and raring to go."

"I'm well rested having had a few weeks off. Hilly has taken the opportunity to take a look at a couple of the other props which has helped keep me fresh with a possible tour in mind."

"So, it's been a funny few weeks because all you ever want to do is play and you don't want to take something like a tour place for granted. But, I'm glad it's worked out now."

"I've never been to North America or Canada before so it's going to be something different for me. I know that they really enjoy their rugby over there even though it's not as popular as American football or baseball etc."

"We're taking it seriously and have named a strong squad. The Saxons is pretty much a completely new team. I'm not sure how many remain from last summer's squad who won the trophy but we'll be looking to play some good rugby and try and repeat the feat if possible."

"It's also going to be a good opportunity to get to know Adrian Jarvis a bit better. I did meet him when we were both in the squad to play Italy earlier this year but, now he's going to be my team mate at Bristol, we'll have more in common."

"All the games in the tournament are going to be important. But of equal importance is going to be the training when we ge there. We haven't got long when we arrive before the first game so we have to get straight down to some hard work if we're going to do ourselves justice."