Henry Slade returned to England duty last night as Steve Borthwick faced growing calls to break up the Marcus Smith-Owen Farrell axis.
The Exeter centre has shaken off the hip injury which kept him out of the Scotland game and is named in a 36-man squad which also features fit-again Henry Arundell. Courtney Lawes, England’s autumn captain, misses out again with his calf problem while Harlequins wing Cadan Murley is dropped from the group preparing for Italy at Twickenham on Sunday.
It is midfield where the main focus lies after World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward joined Lawrence Dallaglio and Stuart Barnes in calling for Borthwick to pick either Farrell or Smith at fly-half.
