1
Borthwick, Farrell react to much-changed England XV to take on Chile
Steve Borthwick has described himself as tremendously excited to name an England team to take on Chile with Owen Farrell reinstated as skipper following his recent four-match ban, adding that the inclusion of Marcus Smith at full-back is a sign of a really healthy squad.
ADVERTISEMENT
Fresh from chalking up their second Pool D success with a 34-12 win over Japan in the humidity of Nice last Sunday, England arrived into a rainy Lille on Thursday evening having unveiled an XV showing a dozen changes.
Only Elliot Daly, Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlam have been retained in the starting team, with Daly switching from left wing to centre and Ludlam moving to blindside from No8.
The wholesale alterations mean that all seven players in the 33-strong squad who weren’t selected against either Argentina or the Japanese will now get a maiden run at France 2023 – Henry Arundell, Max Malins, Farrell, Bevan Rodd, David Ribbans and Jack Willis as starters with Jack Walker included on the bench.
Asked about the return of Farrell to the fold following the expiry of the four-game ban he picked up his August 12 Summer Nations Series red card against Wales, Borthwick said: “We are all tremendously excited to see our captain on the grass on Saturday.
“He has been an incredible leader for this team despite being unable to play the first two games of the World Cup. He has been a fantastic influence in harnessing the leadership across the whole squad. He has been a role model on and off the field. I am looking forward to seeing him leading this team out on Saturday.”
As for out-half Smith securing a first start at full-back, the head coach added: “He has made three appearances for us off the bench at 15 and in each of those he has done really well.
ADVERTISEMENT
“You see an exciting, talented player who finds space and as you look at this, what a group of talent we have in the squad. I’m pleased with how the squad is building into this tournament, pleased with how the squad have progressed and I am looking forward to the game on Saturday.”
Borthwick added that he sees lots of similarities between Smith and regular full-back Freddie Steward, who sits out the match against Chile. “In many ways there are a lot of similarities in the position in what we see is two players who are really committed to developing and taking this team forward; we see two players on the training field who every single day are trying to get better.
“I watch these guys train and before sessions, after sessions, helping each other get to get better. That is a sign of a really healthy squad. As you look at the squad this weekend, you see a team that is packed full of talent, that has pace and I have been saying this for several weeks now, this is a good squad packed full of player who play smart rugby and find a way to win games and that is my expectation on Saturday.
“In terms of Chile what we see is an incredibly committed team. They have players with pace and when they get the ball and move it they try and keep that ball alive. There pose danger in that sense…
ADVERTISEMENT
“From our point of view we want to continue to build our game. You have seen progression over this period of time. I’m pleased with the way the team is building into this tournament and I’m looking forward to this next step.”
With Courtney Lawes, the skipper in the wins of Argentina and Japan, now rested, Farrell comes in at No10 as the captain. “Massively excited,” he declared. “I have been looking forward to getting to the World Cup and it has been tough not playing but it has been great to see what the lads have done and I can’t wait to be a part of that.”
On the prospect of linking with Smith as the full-back and not in the previous 10/12 partnership where Smith was at out-half and Farrell outside him at inside centre, the captain added: “Marcus is a fantastic player. Everyone knows what a talent he is. Hopefully we can link up, hopefully we can find space together, hopefully we can get each other involved in the game. There will be many different ways of doing that.
“It’s been brilliant,” he added about seeing George Ford take command of the No10 shirt in the opening two rounds with official man-of-the-match performances.
“The team has done unbelievably well the last few weeks and to get the two results has been fantastic. George has been playing brilliantly. It has been brilliant to watch and I’m excited to try and be involved.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I’d say France was far more hard done by in the 2011 final than the All Blacks in this game. Joubert simply refused to call a penalty against the All Blacks in the last quarter even directing an All Black to drop a ball he picked up in an offside position rather than penalizing him. This article also totally discounts the efforts of PSTD. Ask Jordie how well he played. Or the backup flank who played hooker for the entire game. Siya was also a brilliant tackle by Richie from scoring a blinder. Pollard was also fantastic. Look I don’t like the boks style but the only thing more questionable than the content of this article is the timing of it. Get over it already
140 Go to commentsDad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
2 Go to commentsWhat ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
140 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
140 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
140 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
140 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
140 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
140 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
140 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
140 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
140 Go to commentsHo hum.
140 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
140 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
140 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
140 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
140 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
140 Go to comments