It might well have been the most difficult selection of Steve Borthwick’s tenure as England head coach. Having tried first sticking and then twisting to compel the reaction he desired from his squad after defeats, a historic Six Nations loss in Italy seemed to leave Borthwick with nowhere to turn as he seeks to address a three-game run that has left his job under severe scrutiny.
In that context, it may feel like making minimal changes is a risky approach. There was little that could have been done, though, to dramatically address a slump that seemed as much mental as to do with selection, and Borthwick was somewhat limited by a paucity of options on England’s European tour, which has seen them set up base in Verona between games in Rome and Paris. With Ollie Lawrence not fit, Henry Slade not having travelled, and George Furbank seemingly not trusted to be at Test sharpness after 15 months of injury woe, a backline that struggled to take its chances goes again with a need to build cohesion, confidence and connection – three qualities lacking at the Stadio Olimpico.
There is, though, a subtle shift that could represent a more significant change in English strategy. The installation of Ollie Chessum on the blindside flank comes after more than a year of Borthwick almost totally eschewing a “big six”, opting instead for a more mobile back row comprised of traditional opensides. Back row positioning is often more interchangeable than is made out – France, for example, use a left and right approach rather than blind and open – but one can split England’s time under Borthwick since the 2023 World Cup, and the retirement of Courtney Lawes, almost exactly in half, as they tried to replace the blindside.
Lawes was a unicorn – a converted lock who developed into a rounded forward of exceptional ability. To initially try and compensate for his absence, Borthwick preferred a lineout jumper or grafter in the No 6 shirt. Across 12 games in 2024, England’s starting blindside flanker was one of Chandler Cunningham-South (six times), Ethan Roots (three times) or Chessum (twice) on 11 occasions, before Tom Curry began against Japan at the end of the autumn.
2025, though, saw one of Curry, his twin brother Ben and Guy Pepper deployed there all but once – Cunningham-South against the USA last July – and that trend continued into this Six Nations. Now, partly that shift has come out of necessity with the fitness issues of George Martin and Chessum meaning Borthwick has seldom been able to pick both in the same pack, but it has also reflected where their head coach feels England’s strength has been over the last year.
The scavenging band of sevens that worked so well during the 12-match winning run has been found lacking in a little heft over the last three defeats; an alternative solution has been sought as England face a mighty challenge in Paris, even if it still feels a pack short on close-in carrying punch.
Chessum’s shifting to six is also a big show of faith in the second row Alex Coles. Lock depth has been a concern for England but the long-limbed Northampton man has become a more trusted performer over the last 12 months, impressing for his club in the latter stages of the Champions Cup and then for his country since.
“He's such a smart rugby player,” Borthwick said of Coles last week. “There are certain players who go out there and do the job, and certain players who go out and do their job and help other players do their job, almost coaching them on the field. They see things ahead of time, they're ahead of the game. Their communication is on another level and as a coach you can hear them. Alex Coles is one of those players. He sees things in a very smart way, talking the other players around in that sense.”
Coles is a player with an impressive work-rate Among English qualified locks in the Prem and Champions Cup this season, only Gloucester’s Cam Jordan has more try involvements per 80 than the Northampton’s man 0.9); Coles is also second for attacking ruck arrivals with the same qualifier to Nick Isiekwe (22.6 to 22.3). That could be seen in the creation of Tommy Freeman’s try against Italy, where Coles first resourced a ruck by clearing two Italians off of Jamie George to generate quick ball:
Before reloading and putting Freeman in with the try-scoring pass two phases later:
Tommy Freeman scores again in the Six Nations
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) March 7, 2026
... And what a pass from Alex Coles to put his Northampton teammate over pic.twitter.com/F8Yef5QdBG
Les Bleus probably offer less pure breakdown jackal threat than Italy, and it may be that England’s priorities have shifted slightly from the fight on the floor to the contest in the air.
Before the fourth round of fixtures, France had mauled 20 times in the tournament, second only to their final-round opponents (24) in terms of number of drives. Scotland, partly by being so disciplined and accurate, kept the visitors away from that strength, conceding just eight lineouts and stealing two of them. Add to that the fact that Fabien Galthie could well be without France’s leading lineout target Oscar Jegou, who faced a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, and England may feel that with their three springy jumpers they can get after France in that area.
The hosts could counter by deploying Charles Ollivon in the back row and promoting Thibaud Flament, but do not be surprised if England alter their kicking strategy slightly to get the ball off the park more often.
England also showed a little more variety on their own ball against Italy. Entering the game against Italy, they had targeted just 11 per cent of their throws to the tail compared to a tournament average of the five other sides of 22 per cent, but went to Coles at the back with their first throw in Rome, failing to form a maul after an unfortunate ricochet off the head of Joe Heyes.
The aforementioned Freeman score came after a toss over the top to Ben Spencer beyond the 15, with Ben Earl setting a platform having been used as carrier from the 13 channel.
Tommy Freeman was then available to offer a decoy option on second phase, with Fin Smith able to win the gainline having pulled out the back of Jamie George at first receiver.
With the same pieces available, it will be worth watching to see if England use a variation on the starter play in Paris.
Borthwick and his squad will have to find a level they have not reached for some time to have a hope against France – but a strength of the head coach’s tenure has been the enacting of a bespoke plan against top opposition. His future may rest on doing so again.
England XV to face France in Paris: 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes; 4 Maro Itoje (capt..), 5 Alex Coles; 6 Ollie Chessum, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Ben Earl; 9 Ben Spencer, 10 Fin Smith; 11 Cadan Murley, 12 Seb Atkinson, 13 Tommy Freeman, 14 Tom Roebuck; 15 Elliot Daly.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Henry Pollock; 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith.
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