If this is a new chapter of English rugby – as Maro Itoje told us more than once – then the first page of it was less notable for what it said, more so for what it did not. Steve Borthwick’s first team announcement as England head coach and not a single mention of the World Cup, now just seven months away, was uttered. That “finishers” has been done away with – Borthwick preferring the more prosaic “replacements” – only underlined how the Eddie Jones era has been consigned to history.
Borthwick’s team selection is eye-catching in so far as Manu Tuilagi has been dropped – Joe Marchant has been preferred – Ben Curry and Ollie Hassell-Collins have been handed first starts and first caps respectively and most significantly, Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell continue as the 10-12 axis. Borthwick may be wielding a new broom but just like his predecessor, that is a circle he has to square.
