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Henry Pollock set for debut as England change four for Wales
By Josh Raisey
Northampton Saints’ Henry Pollock could make his England debut from the bench on Saturday against Wales in round five of the Guinness Six Nations.
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The 20-year-old replaces Ted Hill as one of the forward options on the bench in a 6-2 split, with Ben Curry also being promoted to the starting XV, swapping places with Tom Willis.
Curry’s inclusion is one of four changes to the starting team from the one that triumphed over Italy, with Sale Sharks winger Tom Roebuck coming in for his first appearance of the Championship in place of the injured Ollie Lawrence. The move will see Tommy Freeman shift to outside centre for the first time for England.
After initially being named at full-back against the Azzurri, Elliot Daly will start on the wing in Cardiff, replacing Ollie Sleightholme on the left, who has dropped out of the squad. Daly’s time in the back three was limited against Italy, as he moved to outside centre following Lawrence’s early injury. Only 24 of the Saracen’s previous 60 starts have been on the wing.
Marcus Smith will also return to full-back, while Luke Cowan-Dickie will reclaim the No.2 jersey from Jamie George, who won his 100th cap last week. George Ford will also make his first appearance of the tournament, and 99th overall, as he takes up one of the two back spots on the bench.
Head coach Steve Borthwick has rejigged his pack as well as his backline, with Ben Earl moving back to No.8 to accommodate Tom and Ben Curry on either flank.
England know a bonus-point win against a winless Wales side will guarantee second place this Championship, then they will hope Scotland can pull off a victory over France in Paris in the final match of the day on Super Saturday.
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“We’re excited to face Wales at the Principality Stadium this weekend, one of the most iconic venues in rugby,” said Borthwick.
“The atmosphere will be electric, and we know we’ll need to be at our very best to get the result we’re aiming for.”
Tighthead Will Stuart will make his 50th appearance for England at the Principality Stadium to cap a standout tournament. Borthwick addressed the prop’s landmark, saying: “Reaching 50 caps is a well-deserved milestone for Will and a testament to the hard work he’s shown throughout his career. We’re excited to see him reach this landmark on Saturday and look forward to seeing him continue delivering performances at the highest level.”
England XV
15. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 43 caps)
14. Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks, 3 caps)
13. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 19 caps)
12. Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
11. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 72 caps)
10. Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 10 caps)
9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 22 caps)
1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 70 caps) – vice-captain
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 48 caps)
3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 49 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 92 caps) – captain
5. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 27 caps)
6. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 60 caps)
7. Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 10 caps)
8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 41 caps)
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Replacements
16. Jamie George (Saracens, 100 caps) – vice-captain
17. Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 10 caps)
18. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 11 caps)
19. Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 14 caps)
20. Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
21. Tom Willis (Saracens, 5 caps)
22. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 17 caps)
23. George Ford (Sale Sharks, 98 caps)
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What a woeful selector Borthwick is.
Wales renowned for their dominating tight 5 and we have chosen to have 0 locks on the bench. Irrespective of whether Martin/Isiekwe are injured.
He had the choice of Clark/Tuima or a veteran like Launchbury to add some oomph.
Ted Hill clearly England’s best 6 can not get a chance for love nor money at more than token minutes in his preferred position.
England finally find an 8 who should have a minimum of 15 caps already by now and he is dropped.
Pollock who has been outplayed by Timmins and James in the 20s is somehow rewarded with a place on the bench.
Just bizarre.
Hopefully the Welsh can put us out of our misery and bring the shambolic Borthwick era to an end.
You’re right about locks.
Ted Hill and Tom Willis will get more opportunities, but were dropped for this game in order to really target wales at the breakdown. Neither have been especially hard done by.
Henry Pollock was arguably the best u20s player in the world last year, and has since gone on to be a really key player for Northampton this season. Timmins and James have had great u20 six nations this year, but neither have played a single minute of senior rugby. Pollock’s selection has nothing to do with the u20 6N, as evidenced by the fact that he was in the senior squad before the 6N kicked off. In fact, the fact that he’s mostly been in the senior squad explains his good but not outstanding performances for the u20s.
“Hopefully the Welsh can put us out of our misery and bring the shambolic Borthwick era to an end.”
I’m an England fan, so I want England to win. Thankfully they will.
England’s bench has presumably been selected to ensure England stay in the fight for the full 80. Wales - despite their continued run of losses, have been finishing pretty strongly.
I think Borthwick needs an HIA
1 player in the backline still in the same shirt in the last game compared to the first game. Brilliant. We're going into this match with a less settled backline than the Welsh! 😂
One injury yet the team is moved all over the place again . So much for the idiom that settled sides play more cohesively.
Ford ???. Well that gives the game away, that if all is not going to plan , on comes the kickmeister ford and we all know what happens then .
He hasnt played in weeks and weeks , look what happened in the AB,S and AUS games , he was miles off the pace and he isnt quick at the best of times . I just hope we are too far in front for him to be a liability .
England have been the most settled side in the world for the past 6 months or so, but at a certain point you have to rotate a little bit to try different combinations.
Just so depressing…… what happens if we loose a second row?? Presumably CCS or T Willis have to make do….. and why on earth do we need 3 fly half’s, a bit of a kick in the teeth to M Smith who SB patently doesn't really trust probably because he doesn't stick to a rigid game plan and actually plays heads up rugby.
Jamie George is another who can feel hard done by, seems the selection for the Italy game was simply SB patronising him because of his 100th cap rather than really believing he should start.
A reward for Pollock though. All in all its a shame that France and Scotland were so off form on the days we played them, then we would have be drawing gracefully to the end of the Borthwick era. Instead 2 ridiculously fortunate wins and victories over the perennially struggling Italians will probably be enough for us to have to suffer another season of little or no progress.
Not something I ever thought I would say but I so hope that Wales do English rugby a favour at the weekend…..
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Well Wales is due their first win at some point. May as well be this one. They’ll be a different kettle of fish than Italy, that’s for sure.
What… That will flip the whole improving England narrative right upside down.
Wales probably had two games in mind where they thought they could get a win before they started. The other was Italy who blew them away. They will fancy this team as the next best option. And it’s a strange old team.
Ford on the bench??? What happens if a centre/back 3 player gets injured early like last week?
Surely Ford is only there to come on with a minute to go to get him closer to 100 caps
They can move Ben Earl to Centre I believe.