Andy Goode: Borthwick needed to make more changes and in one key role

Steve Borthwick may have shuffled his pack slightly after the malaise at Murrayfield but it’s a change he has resisted that could’ve made the biggest difference.

For me, the decision by George Ford to go for the drop goal that ended up being charged down by Matt Fagerson and run in for a try by Huw Jones was so hard to fathom and you don’t replace a player based on one decision, but Fin Smith has more chance of igniting this England attack.

Ford has proven particularly adept at knocking over drop goals in the past few years and it can be a useful tactic but not when you’re 11 points behind and have a bit of momentum in the opposition 22. It was a clear error of judgement.

The Sale fly-half was superb on the tour to Argentina last summer and didn’t do badly in the autumn either so people will say it’s a knee-jerk reaction to call for him to lose his place but the reality is that Smith was the man in possession of the shirt prior to his British & Irish Lions selection.

He’s barely had a look in since then, with just one start to his name against Fiji, and this is exactly the time we should be investing in the 23-year-old and backing him to take his game to even greater heights at the top level with a World Cup a couple of years away.

Fixture

Six Nations

England

21 - 42

Full-time

Ireland

All Stats and Data

It was Smith who kickstarted England’s last Guinness Six Nations campaign after defeat in Dublin in Round 1, when he was on the bench, and they scored a boatload of tries in the other four games with him starting.

Add to that his relationship with Alex Mitchell, Fraser Dingwall and Tommy Freeman at club level, where Saints are topping the Gallagher PREM and the most free-flowing team in the league, and he’s just more likely to get things clicking with ball in hand.

Ford’s ability to play flat and pick the right options is normally one of his great strengths but he’s going to the boot too often generally and England had a good enough platform to attack from against Scotland but just didn’t make the most of it.

Putting boot to ball so often was almost certainly point one in the game plan set out by Borthwick but you have to be able to assess the different options in-game as a player and have the feel and understanding to know when to resort to Plan B or C.

England won just four of 14 aerial duels, so it just wasn’t working, and as many as 55 per cent of their rucks were under three seconds which means they had some front foot ball to play with if they could have chosen the right options.

Any fly-half will benefit from the inclusion of Ollie Lawrence outside them and I’m delighted to see him back but I think his club-mate Max Ojomoh is unlucky not to be getting a chance after his player of the match showing against Argentina at the end of the autumn.

I don’t think Tommy Freeman did a lot wrong at centre at all and the mistake a lot of people have pointed to in the lead-up to Jamie Ritchie’s try was actually a consequence of trying to protect Ford defensively and being too tight.

It’s unfortunate for him as he’s been open about his desire to move into the number 13 jersey and needs a run of games there internationally, as well as at club level, if he’s to do so but I think it’s just a case of getting all your best players on the field this week.

Garry Ringrose might not be in is best form, as with all of a lot of Ireland players, but he’s a wily operator and it’s probably the safe option to go with Lawrence and Dingwall in the midfield for a game England simply have to win.

I think it’s right to stick with Henry Arundell, despite his red card, because of the x-factor he offers in Manny Feyi-Waboso’s absence and the harsh reality is that Tom Roebuck didn’t grasp his opportunity either.

It’s great to see Henry Pollock get his first Test start at No.8 with the explosiveness and attitude he can bring and he and Tom Curry haven’t had the impact from the bench in the last couple of games that they did in the autumn so let’s see what they can do from the off.

Six Nations

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

France

2

2

0

0

10

2

Scotland

2

1

1

0

6

3

England

2

1

1

0

5

4

Italy

2

1

1

0

5

5

Ireland

2

1

1

0

4

6

Wales

2

0

2

0

0

Guy Pepper and Sam Underhill probably both had their quietest games in an England jersey in Edinburgh and they might not have the same game-breaking ability to come on and turn a game but they’ll bring energy and industry in abundance.

Ben Spencer is another unfortunate casualty and it seems he’s never going to get a concerted chance to nail down the number nine jersey but Jack van Poortvliet probably does have a game more suited to coming on as a replacement.

In a similar way, I completely understand why Marcus Smith has been preferred to his namesake in the number 23 jersey and his turn of pace and box of tricks might be needed but there’s no doubt in my mind that Fin should be starting.

Ireland have their own dilemma over whether to stick or twist at fly-half this week and loyalty is an admirable quality in both Borthwick and Andy Farrell but it can also be detrimental.

The men in green have a slightly different conundrum in that they have two young number 10s to choose from and seem to have backed the youngest so far but Johnny Sexton has hinted that they are trying to give both, as well as Harry Byrne and Ciaran Frawley, games ahead of the next World Cup.

Sam Prendergast is still a year younger than Sexton was when he made his international debut and has been thrust into the firing the line much earlier than is customary for a fly-half in the Irish system.

Jack Crowley led Ireland to the Six Nations title in 2024 and hasn’t done too much wrong since then but has only had a handful of starts so he may well get the nod this week.

It’s the most important selection call a head coach has to make and the headache over getting the balance right between not chopping and changing too much and not just backing one man to the hilt is a difficult one.

In England’s case, Lions selection has got in the way of Fin Smith’s stint in the starting jersey in a way that it shouldn’t have and, as well as Ford did in Argentina, it’s time for him to be given the keys to this England attack.