Andy Goode: 10's a no-brainer but unluckiest England 9 in history shouldn't start

It’s a sign of the times and Steve Borthwick’s evolution that England’s autumn training squad is stacked with outside backs and there’s not a controversial call in sight.

Tom Willis’ omission, after his move to Bordeaux next season was confirmed, was the big story and you could argue that’s contentious but Borthwick batted away that idea by saying his omission was inevitable.

It’s certainly an example of the system not working when Willis is picking up £160k for his England salary even though he isn’t going to be playing but I understand why the head coach wants to focus on those who will be available to him at the World Cup in 2027.

Owen Farrell is the only other real big-name absentee and while he is coming off the back of a British & Irish Lions tour, he hasn’t played loads of rugby recently, and it makes complete sense to me that he hasn’t been included.

Assuming he actually wants to play for England again, he’ll be back involved over the course of the next year if his form continues to be good, but we all know what he can do, and it’s Fraser Dingwall and Max Ojomoh’s time to shine.

The latter made his debut against the USA in the summer and has started this season on fire, while the former is in pole position after starting the last couple of Six Nations games. They’ve started just five Tests between them and we need to see what they can do at the highest level with a run in the team.

There’s also Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade who can play inside centre, so England aren’t short of options in that department, with Tommy Freeman likely to be utilised at outside centre at some point as well.

I’ve never seen so many wingers in a squad before, but it’s a group that’s been picked on form and Freeman, Henry Arundell, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Adam Radwan and Tom Roebuck have all been tearing it up in the PREM.

Cadan Murley can probably count himself a little bit lucky to have been included, given the competition for places and his form for Harlequin,s but he’s got credit in the bank.

Noah Caluori exploded on the scene at the weekend, scoring five tries on his first PREM start, and it’s great to see him included as an ‘apprentice’ as that probably wouldn’t have happened earlier on in the Borthwick era.

The 19-year-old has a major point of difference with his aerial ability and I don’t see any reason why he couldn’t make his debut against Fiji if he excels in training, as the head coach has intimated.

It’s interesting that Freddie Steward is the only recognised full-back in the squad, though, so presumably Marcus Smith will continue to get plenty of minutes in that position rather than at fly-half.

Speaking of the number 10 jersey, it’s always bound to cause a debate and even more so when George Ford did so well on the victorious tour to Argentina, but it’s a no-brainer for me and Fin Smith has to start.

He was the man in possession of the shirt before going on the Lions tour, has put in a couple of good performances for Northampton since his return and has a superb all-round game that gets the best out of those around him.

He might not have the flashy moments or speed of a Beauden Barrett, for example, but he does everything to a level that’s an eight out of 10 or above and is still just 23 years of age, so could be the fulcrum of the side for the next decade.

Ford did an outstanding job against the Pumas and has looked good with ball in hand again this season, but he’s one of the weakest players around defensively and we saw that at times against Saracens at the weekend, so that does still count against him.

Ben Spencer has to be the unluckiest scrum-half in the history of the English game in terms of the number of caps he should have won or Tests he should have started, but Alex Mitchell probably does get the nod in the number nine jersey, given his relationship with Smith and form in this year’s Six Nations.

In the past, most of the focus would have been on the forwards but, aside from No.8, there’s a settled look to the likely starting pack even with the Curry brothers and George Martin on the sidelines.

There’s experience, size and power up front and that’ll obviously be a big part of England’s game, but there’s much more to them than grunt and a good kicking game now, and I’m so excited to see the Lee Blackett effect now he’s permanently installed as attack coach.

England scored 13 tries on the summer tour and every team he’s coached over the last decade or so has been a joy to watch, so it’ll be fascinating to see how much of an effect he’s managed to have already.

It’s funny how quickly things change, and England had to ride out a tough autumn last year where Borthwick made some errors of judgement and they lost narrowly to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, only beating Japan.

This time around, four wins out of four might be a stretch, but you could certainly make a case for it and three wins at the very least is what the men in white will be looking for.

Momentum is massive in sport and England have it right now, Borthwick deserves credit for his personal evolution, the squad is taking shape and the final pieces of the jigsaw are being added. The loss of Willis is a blow, but it isn’t likely to knock England off course now and an exciting autumn lies ahead.