Steve Borthwick has brushed off Warren Gatland’s jibe that Wales were “too fit” for England before Saturday’s rematch at Twickenham, insisting his side are on track to peak for the start of the World Cup next month.
Borthwick has made 11 changes to his side for England’s first Twickenham outing since they were destroyed by France, calling on the cavalry with Billy Vunipola, the captain, Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Jamie George, Elliot Daly, Courtney Lawes and Henry Arundell all starting. Vunipola’s inclusion is particularly noteworthy, given he has been sidelined with a knee injury since April and is the only specialist No 8 in the squad but he forms a balanced-looking back-row with Ben Earl – who makes his first start – and Lawes.
With a few exceptions – Manu Tuilagi and Tom Curry were not considered available for selection – it is a side far closer to Borthwick’s first-choice XV. But he repeatedly sidestepped the opportunity to promise the Twickenham faithful a statement performance after the limp defeat in Cardiff.
Gatland, for his part, continued to throw the odd barb on Thursday, questioning whether England may be “happy they are on the plane” – the suggestion being that his Wales players may be more desperate given Borthwick has already named his World Cup squad while he has not. Unlike his predecessor, Eddie Jones, however, Borthwick gave short shrift to any invitation to engage in pre-match verbals. Instead, he pointed to the pedigree of England’s strength and conditioning coach, Aled Walters – who was on the South Africa staff during the 2019 World Cup – and was adamant he was happy with his side’s fitness levels with a month to go before their tournament opener against Argentina.
“We are pretty clear on where we are at and where we need to be,” said Borthwick. “We are on track with where we need to be. The programme is very specific and direct for what we need to do with the players we have. Aled Walters, with his experience of getting a team right to win a World Cup, we’ve got a guy who’s proven to get a team together at the right time. We believe we’re on the right track for where we want to be right now. I don’t know what other teams are doing or saying about their players or our team, I just concentrate on my team and we’re in a pretty good place.”
While Borthwick would not be drawn on the need to ignite the Twickenham crowd, he has selected a team that, on paper, gives cause for excitement. It is a second start for the 20-year-old Arundell – a first at Twickenham – and though his first, against Ireland in March, was forgettable, his cameos from the bench during the tournament were impressive. As a result, Borthwick believes he can be England’s “game-breaker” at the World Cup. “He’s in great physical shape and I think he’s got such incredible natural talents that you want to ensure that is always going to be there,” added Borthwick. “That he trusts his instincts, that’s what we want.
“When you look around world rugby right now you see teams have got people who can break the game up in different ways. One of those ways is pace and he has pace. If we can get him the ball in space, and he in particular doesn’t need a huge amount of space, he can make things happen. We’ve already seen him do that in an England shirt and we’re looking forward to seeing him do it more.”
Borthwick does not expect Tuilagi’s “tweak” to be a problem for next week’s trip to Ireland while Anthony Watson, another senior player yet to feature in either of the match-day squads, is also likely to appear in Dublin. Borthwick will also hope to have Ollie Chessum back against the world’s No 1 side. “Manu has done a small tweak, which will be just a few days but [he is] not right for this week,” said Borthwick. “Anthony is fit and available to play this week but would probably benefit from another week of preparation.”
