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Four talking points after England name team to host the Wallabies
By Liam Heagney
Steve Borthwick has done it again, bringing forward his planned England team announcement for the second week. Thursday has traditionally been his announcement day for a Saturday match. However, he brought forward by two days last week’s unveiling versus New Zealand and he has now done the same thing for next Saturday’s clash with Australia.
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What came out on the wash? The head coach has retained his full faith in the starting XV that faced the All Blacks, the only tweak being positional where Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence have changed their midfield roles.
On the bench, though, there has been quite a row back in Borthwick’s thinking as last weekend’s unsatisfactory six/two forwards/backs divide has been scrapped for the more traditional five/three split. Here are the RugbyPass talking points following the latest England team selection:
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The LCD comeback
One thing that can be said about Borthwick’s England selections is that the door is never bolted shut if you are prepared to put in the required work. We had two examples of this last Saturday, with Ben Spencer handed a first Test start at the age of 32 while replacement Nick Isiekwe made his first appearance since March 2023.
This week’s comeback story is Luke Cowan-Dickie, whose final international appearance came off the bench in the November 2022 home win over South Africa. That fixture was Eddie Jones’ last in charge and the hooker has experienced a roller coaster 24 months since then.
It was January 2023 when he was seriously injured with Exeter and after an agreed move to Montpellier fell through, he was snapped up by Sale where he has fought his way back to full fitness.
There were 14 appearances last term, 10 as a starter, and he has since started all five of Sale’s Premiership matches this season before flying to Girona for the England warm-weather camp ahead of the four-game November schedule.
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It was October 1 when Alex Sanderson, his Sale boss, insisted to RugbyPass that the now 31-year-old Cowan-Dickie would fully be in the England picture for this latest series.
“He is getting better and better,” he enthused. “If you saw him that first game against Connacht he was just flying past people in the pre-season game, he wasn’t connecting with anyone.
“Then he starts to find his timing and now he is getting that sweet spot in defence, he is getting some carries in attack, the scrum has been dominant the last two weeks, his lineout ball creating more mauls at the back than we have for a long time so all the fundamentals of his game are there.
“You are going to see more of him physically around the park because he is happy in getting settled with those basics that he has to get right. He is fully in the England picture and I expect him to be in the conversation about getting into that team.” He has.
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12 becomes 13
Borthwick has excused last Saturday’s starting team from blame for the two-point loss to the All Blacks, judging by his decision to retain all 15 players to run out again versus the Wallabies. There was one positional switch, though, and it is curious what it might mean for the England approach.
Last Saturday was the 11th occasion in Borthwick’s 25-match tenure that Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence were named as his midfield starters, Slade running the outside channel in the No13 shirt with Lawrence lining out on his inside in the No12 jersey. Against Australia, though, these roles will be reversed and there will be great interest in what difference it might make to England, particularly in attack.
Lawrence was a defensive bulwark at inside centre, making 22 tackles in the Autumn Nations Series opener, six more than the next best George Martin, but it is at No13 where he plays his club rugby for Bath and he has a nose for the try line in that position, scoring three times in his five recent league appearances.
He has been an England starter in the No13 position just once for Borthwick, the August 2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up loss to Fiji where he combined with inside centre Manu Tuilagi.
England were outscored three tries to one by New Zealand and the intrigue will be can Lawrence expand their threat as the starting outside centre while also keeping his defensive contribution high.
Bomb squad binned
So, the six/two England bomb squad has been shelved after just a single game. It looked ambitious last weekend when Borthwick abandoned his usual five/three bench split and named an extra forward instead. It didn’t work.
South Africa, the back-to-back Rugby World Cup winners, have trademarked this six/two tactic and have long used it to their benefit, even dabbling with seven-one. Famously, they even sent on all six replacement forwards in one go in the 50th minute of last July’s Test series opener against Ireland in Pretoria.
That helped tilt the balance in their favour, their 27-20 win sealed by a penalty try and a yellow card against the Irish scrum. England, though, reacted differently last Saturday. They did sub off their entire front row on 53 minutes, but its effect depowered their scrum momentum.
It was then 60 and 66 minutes when they exchanged Tom Curry and Chandler Cunningham-South for Ben Curry and Alex Dombrandt, but the sixth and final sub forward Nick Isiekwe was left stewing until the 77th minute, only arriving for George Martin after England had gone behind on the scoreboard.
The overall lack of cohesion in the approach has now forced a Borthwick rethink and this weekend’s split will be five/three as Ben Curry has been excluded as the extra forward and winger Ollie Sleightholme named as the third back sub on this occasion.
It should bring a better balance to Borthwick’s plan B. The question now is getting his timings right, unlike last time when so many fans were perplexed by the 63rd-minute departure of Marcus Smith for George Ford, three minutes after Harry Randall went on for Ben Spencer.
Too many vices?
Borthwick has again named three forwards as vice-captain – Ellis Genge, Maro Itoje and Ben Earl – to assist hooker Jamie George in leading this latest England team. Out-half George Ford is listed as a fourth vice-captain, but he is again named as a replacement, so it’s obvious that the power base in this team lies very much within the pack.
Test-level leadership can take many forms. Look, for instance, at how Scotland went through a phase of having two co-captains. However, no other international side appears preoccupied with naming as many vice-captains as England.
It brings to mind the expression of too many Chiefs and not enough Indians. This England tactic of having four starting forwards officially named with captaincy duties isn’t topped by their Autumn Nations rivals.
New Zealand, for instance, named forwards Scott Barrett and Ardie Savea last Saturday as their respective captain and vice-captain, with midfield Rieko Ioane also listed as a second vice.
Scotland, meanwhile, went with centre Sione Tuipulotu as their skipper versus Fiji, with openside Rory Darge as their lone vice-captain. That appears like a clear chain of command compared to what England have selected for the second Saturday in a row.
