It probably comes as little surprise that Owen Farrell is not entirely comfortable discussing the fact he is set to overtake Jonny Wilkinson as England’s highest ever points scorer on Saturday but thankfully George Ford is happy to step in. On the field, Steve Borthwick is pinning his hopes on the pair reprising their 10-12 axis for the first time in two and a half years and off it, the signs are good.
“He’s chasing down probably the best English 10 in history and he’s probably one kick away [Farrell needs two more points] from surpassing that, which is incredible from Owen’s point of view,” says Ford. “Owen will say himself that he doesn’t play the game to break records like that, he plays the game to do the best thing for the team but because he’s done the best thing for the team over that period of time he’s going to do something special over the weekend.”
It was during England’s improbable run to the World Cup final in 2007 that Borthwick first met Ford and Farrell so it is fitting that he has turned to them to repeat the trick back in France, 16 years on. They were teenagers at the time – around because their fathers were either on the coaching staff or in the squad – but it was clear to Borthwick even then that their England careers would be long and fruitful. Now 10 months and 13 matches into Borthwick’s tenure, they finally line up together for the first time since he took charge.
They have done so 40 times for England, most notably in the halcyon early days of Eddie Jones’s tenure as well as the 2019 World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand and have a 77.5 win percentage record when doing so. Their careers, their lives have been intertwined since before the 2007 tournament but they have not started for England together since March 2021. Much of that is down to the emergence of Marcus Smith and Jones’s insistence he was the future of English rugby, some of it down to injuries and more recently down to Farrell’s suspension. The strong suggestion has always been, however, that once both were fit and available, Borthwick would rekindle their 10-12 partnership.
On one hand, It would appear a leap of faith, then, that the two can hit it off again having not been paired together for so long. But as Farrell says: “I’m obviously pretty close to George anyway. We speak about everything rugby-wise, regardless of what the team is anyway. We’re on the same page. People have talked about the amount of times we’ve played together before, but it’s not been for a while. We both hope we’ve kicked on since we’ve last played together.”
Borthwick is similarly insistent that the Ford and Farrell axis will show no signs of rust on Saturday. “They have a great relationship built from when they were very young,” said Borthwick. “They spent a lot of time together from teenagers upwards, playing all the way through the England pathway system. They’re very close on the pitch and off the pitch also. They have a great understanding. [In 2007] you could see how much they loved rugby, they couldn’t get enough of it. They were both desperate to play rugby for England. You could sense it from them and you could see it. Three, how close they already were in developing that relationship and it’s continued to develop.”
Borthwick has leant on the 2019 World Cup campaign – when he was an assistant coach – considerably so far so it is no surprise he is again going back to the future with his midfield selections. All the more so with Manu Tuliagi lining up outside Ford and Farrell. England have already qualified for the knockout stages of this World Cup as pool winners but make no mistake, this is Borthwick’s first-choice side being put through its paces against Samoa before their last-eight fixture, most probably against Fiji. It may be straying into stereotypes to suggest England will greatly benefit from the fact they are likely to meet Pacific Island nations in successive weeks – Fiji are significantly further ahead in their development – but in terms of the physical challenge that awaits, there are worse ways to prepare.
Accordingly, after his five-try heroics Henry Arundell is jettisoned from the squad and after his swashbuckling performance at full-back, Marcus Smith returns to the bench. That Freddie Steward, Jonny May and Joe Marchant – a centre by trade but an impressive performer under the high ball – make up the back-three strongly indicates that England will return to their kick-heavy approach. Trying to engage Borthwick or any of his assistants and players with the idea that they are on a collision course with Fiji is a bootless errand but expect changes for their Marseille quarter-final to be kept to a minimum.
There remains the possibility of seeing Ford, Farrell and Smith on the pitch together again but the latter is again reduced to the role of cameo. It is harsh on Smith insofar as his performance against Chile demonstrated that for all the defensive resilience, the effective pragmatism against Argentina and Japan, England are in need of a second playmaker in the side. Few can argue with Ford’s return at fly-half, however, and if a bulked-up Farrell is fit, he plays and captains the side. “It’s more of a feel and an awareness thing really. You don’t want to be too scripted or structured with it,” said Ford. “You just want to be flexible within the way you’re playing, that’s the thing about playing together so many times. Not having done it for a period of time maybe could benefit us because it probably sharpens you up a bit.”
With Tuilagi shifting to outside-centre, it is only the ninth time he, Ford and Farrell have combined in England’s midfield. Six of those came in 2019, three since but not since the 2020 Six Nations. It is also the first time Tuilagi lines up against the country of his birth, having moved to the UK from Samoa as a teenager. “It’s of great significance for Manu and his family,” said Borthwick. “I think what you see is a man who is very proud to play rugby for England. The way he’s trained and the way he’s played throughout this tournament has been exceptional and I’m sure we’ll see another performance like that on Saturday.”
