If it can be said that you learn a lot about a man by how he reacts under pressure, then this is another instructive team named by Steve Borthwick. It has become an almost running joke at how the England head coach’s tendency for boldness in selection contrasts with his sober public image, but an entirely-new backline, and unprecedented nine personnel changes, reflect a campaign that he and his squad have rather lost control of. Borthwick’s back row, half-backs, centres and back three have never started in combination; so much, it seems, for cohesion.
Boprthwick sought to underline that the backline has been, Tommy Freeman excepted, running together in training as a second string for the past few weeks. “These players have earned their selection,” Borthwick insisted, with two alterations enforced by injuries to Alex Mitchell and Ollie Lawrence. “Several of them have only had a couple of opportunities so far in this tournament but I think they have earned by the way they have trained.
“All of us have been really disappointed with the performances in the last two games. They haven’t been to the required standards that we have set over a long period time and a lot of Test matches; in a lot of areas. One of those has been the willingness to throw that pass and take our chances, to play at the speed we want to push. In the last two games, against very good opposition, we haven’t been able to do that.”
It should be said, and underlined, that there is no imminent threat to Borthwick’s position. Senior figures at the Rugby Football Union (RFU) would be loath to move on from Borthwick even if a 12-match winning run were not so recent in the memory; being just two games removed from a significant series of successes, the head coach can sit with relative comfort. But defeat to Italy would be a first – and potentially change the question about England’s direction ahead of next year’s World Cup.
This two week Eurotrip – England will spend time in Verona between matches in Rome and Paris – will in part become an exercise in figuring out the future, and the component parts that must remain or be replaced. A fresh look is perhaps natural. Parallels have already been drawn with the 2018 campaign, in which senior figures like Chris Robshaw, Mike Brown, James Haskell and captain Dylan Hartley held central roles; none would make it to the World Cup a year and a half later after the first Eddie Jones cull.
“I say to the team that we have certain standards, and I am going to hold them to those standards,” Borthwick stressed. “There are certain things that, to me, are unwavering. Things that I will not move upon. Unfortunately, in the last two games, on certain things, we’ve not met those standards.
“We were disappointed about the intensity. There are times in games where you are going to go down on the scoreboard, it is going to happen. You’ve got to be consistent and smart about how you play, and make sure you keep your intensity. I don’t think in the last game that the intensity was at the level we needed to be. But we’ve drawn a line and look forward to Italy, and that’s what we are doing now.
Borthwick had backed his squad to go again after Scotland; the manner of their defeat to Ireland clearly meant he could not do the same against Italy. It is George Ford, supplanted by Fin Smith at fly half, who has most obviously paid the price, even if England have been keen to put more time into their coming man at No 10. Ford’s role behind the scenes has been just as influential this week but it is Smith’s team to run, as he managed to so effectively in the back half of last year’s Six Nations.
His midfield marriage with Seb Atkinson at 10 and 12 was one first forged in the pathways and at Worcester; with Freeman now a club colleague, too, there is a certain synergy that reduces some of the risk to cohesion posed by sweeping changes. One would not expect a radical shift in approach but there is perhaps a bit more carrying potential in this team as constructed, which will be required against an Italian side with the best dominant tackle rate (10.3 per cent) in the competition. There is also England’s woes in both 22s to consider: only their opponents have a worse conversion rate (34.2 per cent) in attack in this championship, and their defensive denial rate of 40.9 per cent is the worst of the Six Nations.
“Seb brings distribution, he brings some punch in the carry and, defensively, the ground he covers in defence is exceptional,” Borthwick outlined. “Those are big strengths to his game. And while he's a young player, and at this level only has a couple of caps, I’m really excited about how he’s going to grow over this period.
“There’s a little bit where we’ve tightened up. I’ve talked a lot about pushing players to give that extra pass. Maybe the team has tightened up and not thrown it. I want us to get back to playing the way we want to play and being willing to throw that pass, be willing to move that ball a little bit more. I’ll be encouraging the team to do that this weekend.”
England XV to face Italy (Saturday 7 March, 4.40pm GMT): 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes; 4 Maro Itoje (capt.), 5 Alex Coles; 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Tom Curry, 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 Ollie Chessum, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Henry Pollock; 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith.
