England’s fly-half rivals Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith will go head-to-head as Saracens entertain Harlequins on Saturday with the vast majority of Steve Borthwick’s squad straight back into action for their clubs this weekend.
Farrell and Smith will lock horns at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after vying for the England No 10 jersey throughout the Six Nations. Smith started at fly-half in the defeats by Scotland and France while Farrell, the captain, wore the No 10 jersey against Wales, Italy and last weekend against Ireland.
Of Borthwick’s 23-man squad for the defeat by Ireland, only Kyle Sinckler, who has been listed as unavailable by Bristol, the Sale pair of Manu Tuilagi and Ben Curry by virtue of a bye week for the Sharks, and Jack Willis of Toulouse (rested) are not in action for their clubs this weekend.
Ellis Genge, Henry Arundell, Nick Isiekwe, Jack van Poortvliet, Dan Cole and Freddie Steward – who is available after his red card was rescinded – have been named on the bench for Bristol, London Irish, Saracens and Leicester, while the rest start for their clubs.
By contrast, Kieran Treadwell is the only member of the Ireland 23 who will feature for the provinces and, while that is understandable given social media has been awash with videos of Andy Farrell’s squad’s prolonged celebrations, it highlights the difficulties Borthwick made mention of when lamenting he had “no control” over his players once they returned to their clubs after the defeat in Dublin.
Newcastle produced a stunning performance in Mark Laycock’s first home game in charge as they prevailed 17-12 over Gloucester despite being reduced to 14 men in the first half of a fiery Gallagher Premiership encounter.
The sides traded early tries through Seb Blake and Adam Radwan, before Falcons prop Richard Palframan was sent off for a shoulder tackle in the 16th minute.
Ollie Thorley punished Newcastle with a touchdown within minutes as a bad-tempered opening period ended with the visitors leading 12-10.
But a try from Elliott Obatoyinbo proved just reward for a spirited performance from the depleted home side, who could have extended their lead but for Brett Connon failing to nail a penalty from long range.
It proved not to be pivotal, as the Falcons closed out a highly impressive victory to complete the double over their opponents and earn their sixth league win of the season.
As part of the Elite Player Squad agreement, England players who play the majority of international campaigns are afforded guaranteed rest weeks afterwards but it is at the discretion of the clubs, in conjunction with the RFU, as to when those take place.
Lining up alongside Farrell are Jamie George, Maro Itoje, Mako Vunipola, Ben Earl and Max Malins as Saracens seek the victory which would rubber-stamp a top-two finish and a home Premiership semi-final. Harlequins, meanwhile, have slipped to eight points off the top four and are looking to arrest their dismal away form in an effort to boost their playoff push. Alex Dombrandt, Joe Marchant and Jack Walker join Smith in the starting XV named by Tabai Matson, who also has Nick Evans back in his coaching ranks after his secondment to England for the Six Nations.
“For us, this performance is critical, we have to bring our best game and sustain that for a long period,” said Matson. “Having our lads back from English duty bolsters the morale of our changing room and allows us to play at a higher level, and that’s the same for everyone across the league, particularly with Saracens.
