As he prepared to break the bad news to Marcus Smith, head coach Steve Borthwick thought back to a beach in Bali.
The same memory had sprung to mind before he axed Ben Youngs, England’s most-capped men’s player, in midweek - and Manu Tuilagi before that.
Borthwick recalled the moment the walls of his own rugby world came crashing down, stripping the gloss off one of the happiest moments in his life.
