England get their Six Nations campaign underway on February 4 as they face Scotland at Twickenham hoping to regain the Calcutta Cup.
Steve Borthwick will be hopeful of his first match in charge will result in victory to begin their World Cup year in positive fashion after a disappointing 2022. Eddie Jones was sacked after England were booed off the Twickenham pitch in November following a disappointing 13-27 defeat.
Borthwick will now look to build upon the work done by Jones to prepare for this autumn's World Cup in France and will get his first and only chance to assess his squad in the Six Nations. He will be grateful for a relatively simple start to the tournament, with home fixtures against Scotland (February 4) and Italy (February 11) before tougher tests.
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The travel to Wales on February 25 to face a side who could be resurgent following the return of head coach Warren Gatland. They then face France at home on March 11 before rounding off their campaign with a trip to Dublin to face world number one side Ireland on March 18.
Borthwick will be faced with the prospect of starting the tournament without talismanic fly-half Owen Farrell and will face a decision over whether to start with Marcus Smith or bring Sale Sharks' George Ford back into the fold.
Sharks could be well represented in the squad with Manu Tuilagi, Raffi Quirke, Ben Curry, Tom Roebuck and Jonny Hill all in line for a call up to the squad after their great Premiership season so far as they sit second in the table behind Saracens. However, they could face a race against time to get Tom Curry fit following a hamstring strain suffered by the back row in the win against Harlequins.
Elsewhere, Saracens' Ben Earl could earn a recall following his superb form this season while there could be space for a new hooker in the squad amid injury concerns for Exeter's Luke Cowan Dickie.
Borthwick and new defence coach Kevin Sinfield got their first look at the squad last week in a meet up at the University of Gloucestershire before new attack coach Nick Evans' arrival from Harlequins was announced later in the week. It is set to be a fascinating squad announcement and fans will get a first look on Monday, January 16.
Six Nations fixtures:
ROUND 1
Saturday, February 4 2023
- Wales vs Ireland - 2:15pm
- England vs Scotland - 4:45pm
Sunday, February 5 2023
- Italy vs France - 3pm
ROUND 2
Saturday, February 11 2023
- Ireland vs France - 2:15pm
- Scotland vs Wales - 4:45pm
Sunday, February 12 2023
- England vs Italy - 3pm
ROUND 3
Saturday, 25 February 2023
- Italy vs Ireland - 2:15pm
- Wales vs England - 4:45pm
Sunday, 26 February 2023
- France vs Scotland - 3pm
ROUND 4
Saturday, March 11 2023
- Italy vs Wales - 2:15pm
- England vs France - 4:45pm
Sunday, March 12 2023
- Scotland vs Ireland - 3pm
ROUND 5
Saturday, March 18 2023
- Scotland vs Italy - 12:30pm
France vs Wales - 2:45pm
Ireland vs England - 5pm
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