If it can be said that you can know a lot about a man by how he reacts under pressure, then this is another illuminating team named by Steve Borthwick. The England manager’s daring tendencies in selection contrasted with his calm public image and have become almost a running joke, but a new backline and an unprecedented nine personnel changes reflect how much control he and his side have lost in this game. Borthwick’s back row, halfbacks, halfbacks and back three never started at the same time; so much for the sake of cohesion, it seems.
Bopswick sought to emphasize that the backline, with the exception of Tommy Freeman, has been running together as a second line in practice over the past few weeks. “These players have earned their selections,” insists Borthwick, who has been forced to make changes due to injuries to Alex Mitchell and Ollie Lawrence. “Some of them have only had a couple of chances in this tournament so far but I think they’ve earned it with the way they train.
Fin Smith will take charge of new backline from front half (PA Wire)
“We are all very disappointed with the performance in the last two games. There are a lot of aspects where they have not lived up to the standards that we have set for a long time and in a lot of Test matches. One of them is the willingness to pass the ball and take chances and play at the pace that we want to play. We haven’t been able to do that in the last two games against very strong opposition.”
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It should be noted and emphasized that there is no imminent threat to Borthwick’s position. Those at the top of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) are also reluctant to leave Borthwick, even if a 12-game winning streak is not so fresh in people’s memory; with just two games left of a string of major successes, the manager can sit back with relative ease. But defeat to Italy would be a first and could change England’s direction ahead of next year’s World Cup.
(Getty Images)
This two-week tour of Europe – England will spend time in Verona between games in Rome and Paris – will be partly an exercise in figuring out the future and the components that must be retained or replaced. A fresh look may be natural. There are similarities to the 2018 campaign, in which senior figures such as Chris Robshaw, Mike Brown, James Haskell and captain Dylan Hartley played central roles; no one has made it to the World Cup a year and a half after Eddie Jones’ first knockout.
“I said to the team, we have certain standards and I’m going to hold them to those standards,” Borthwick stressed. “For me, there are certain things that are unwavering. I wouldn’t change those things. Unfortunately, in the last two games, on certain things, we didn’t live up to those standards.
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“We were disappointed with the intensity. Sometimes in games your scoreboard goes down and that’s going to happen. You have to be consistent and smart in the way you play and make sure you keep your intensity up. I didn’t think in the last game the intensity was where we needed to be. But we’ve drawn a line in the sand and are looking forward to Italy and that’s what we’re doing now.
The game against Ireland was a difficult day for several England stalwarts (Getty Images)
Borthwick has backed his side to chase Scotland again. The way they lost to Ireland clearly meant he couldn’t do the same against Italy. The most obvious one to pay the price is George Ford (replaced by Finn Smith in the first half), although England have been keen to invest more time in the incoming number ten. Ford’s role behind the scenes will be equally influential this week, but it is Smith’s side that will be run, as he was in the second half of last year’s Six Nations.
His midfield marriage to Seb Atkinson, aged 10 and 12, was first forged on the pitch and at Worcester. Freeman is now also a club colleague, so there is a certain synergy that reduces the risk of cohesion that comes with sweeping changes. One wouldn’t expect a fundamental shift in the team’s approach, but the team could be built with more carrying potential, which is needed against an Italian side that has the highest steal rate in the game (10.3%). England’s plight in these two top 22s is also worth considering: only their opponents have a worse attacking conversion rate in this tournament (34.2%), while their defensive rejection rate of 40.9% is the worst in the Six Nations.
Seb Atkinson featured in England’s last 15 tie against France last year but makes his first Six Nations start (Getty)
“Seb brings distribution, he brings some punch on offense, and defensively, the ground he covers defensively is outstanding,” Borthwick outlined. “Those are the big strengths of his game. Even though he’s a young player and has only made a handful of appearances at this level, I’m really excited about his growth over this period.
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“We’ve tightened up in some areas. I’ve talked a lot about pushing guys to pass the ball more. Maybe teams have tightened up and not passed the ball. I hope we get back to the way we want to play, willing to pass the ball, willing to move the ball more. I’ll be encouraging teams to do that this weekend.”
England XV vs Italy (Saturday 7 March 4:40pm GMT): 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Hayes; 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 5 Alex Coles; 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl; 9 Ben Spencer, 10 Finn Smith; 11 Kadan Mulley, 12 Seb Atkinson, 13 Tommy Freeman, 14 Tom Roebuck; 15 Elliot Daly.
Alternatives: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Lord, 18 Trevor Davidson, 19 Ollie Chesson, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Henry Pollock; 22 Jack Van Pultfleet, 23 Marcus Smith.
