My 33-man England 2023 World Cup squad – Andy Goode

Richard Wigglesworth might be toeing the party line by saying England’s game against Wales this weekend isn’t a last chance saloon but it definitely is for some players.

Steve Borthwick is one of the most meticulous and data driven head coaches around so, of course, selection isn’t going to based on one game but there are likely four or five spots in his World Cup squad not yet completely inked in and Saturday should play a decisive role.

I’ve played with loads of players who train the house down and then don’t produce the goods at the weekend and, on the flip side, quite a few who aren’t good trainers – I was one of those – but rise to the occasion.

Theo Dan, Tom Pearson and Tom Willis are yet to get a taste of international rugby and a host of others are yet to feature under Borthwick. You can say this isn’t a selection shootout all you want but it just has to be the case for certain players involved in the tight calls.

I think the front row picks itself because the squad size has gone up from 31 at the last World Cup to 33 this time around and you have to pick three hookers and six props really so there isn’t much trimming needed there.

It’ll be interesting to see whether he goes with a 19/14 or 18/15 split of forwards and backs but I think he might go for the latter with a specialist second row or back row missing out because there are so many players in the current squad who can cover both those positions.

That might mean bad news for David Ribbans and Jonny Hill. The former is off to Toulon and the latter was a regular starter last year but wasn’t utilised in this year’s Six Nations.

The England head coach is a big admirer of Ollie Chessum, knows exactly how much potential George Martin has to excel on the big stage and isn’t going to leave out Maro Itoje or Courtney Lawes.

All four of those players can play in the back row as well as the second row and that’s hugely helpful when it comes to the balance of a World Cup squad.

The back row, as well as perhaps the back three, is the most difficult area of the squad to call but Tom Curry and Jack Willis are absolutely nailed on and Billy Vunipola has qualities that nobody else in the squad possesses so he’s in for me.

Given the capacity of the likes of Ben Earl, Lewis Ludlam, Tom Curry and co to play number eight, Alex Dombrandt might just be one of the more high-profile omissions and he wouldn’t make the cut in my final 33.

He started every game in the 2023 Six Nations and has certainly had his chances but I don’t think he’s proven himself at international level and I can’t see Borthwick taking two specialist number eights.

Earl was largely overlooked again in this year’s Six Nations, making just a couple of appearances off the bench, but he’s arguably been the standout player in the Premiership over the past two seasons and covers all three back row positions so I’d be taking him.

I think Borthwick will probably plump for Lewis Ludlam ahead of Earl as the Northampton man started all five Six Nations games this year and that probably leaves one back row slot left to fill.

It might seem like a big call but I just don’t think you can ignore the form of Tom Pearson at the back end of last season. He was monstering seasoned internationals and showing real nous as well as physicality.

Eddie Jones made the mistake of taking only two scrum halves to the last World Cup, which meant Ben Spencer had to be called up very late to sit on the bench in the final, so I don’t think that’ll happen again and Danny Care, Jack van Poortvliet and Ben Youngs will all go.

I have a feeling he’ll take all three fly halves as well because obviously Owen Farrell can play centre if required, Marcus Smith has x-factor and George Ford is someone Borthwick knows inside out and trusts to be a coach on the field.

It’d be a massive call to leave any of them out, although taking all three probably does leave you a bit short in the back three, but if you were cutting one, it’d have to be Ford because of Smith’s ability to change a game from the bench.

Manu Tuilagi, Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade have to be included as centres for me and then Elliot Daly and Joe Marchant both make it into my squad because they can play in the back three as well as at centre. Daly’s massive left boot is also a major asset.

I don’t think there’s any argument about Freddie Steward or Anthony Watson’s place on the plane, or Eurostar, and you can’t leave Henry Arundell out with the game-breaking ability he has so that leaves just one more spot for me.

Max Malins and Cadan Murley have both been prolific in the Premiership of late but, given that the former started four times in this year’s Six Nations and the latter has been released and then re-joined this squad, I expect Malins to get the nod.

The 23-man squad named to face Wales is obviously peppered with a few nailed-on World Cup squad members such as Steward and captain Ellis Genge but you look down the list and so many of the rest are still surely playing for places.

It’s almost undoubtedly a last chance saloon for Guy Porter, Ribbans and even Dombrandt and it might just be a selection shootout between the likes of Ludlam and Pearson and Malins and Joe Cokanasiga.

Unfortunately for two of the most exciting players in the top flight of English club rugby, Earl in the back row and Murley in the back three, their exclusion from the squad to face Wales means I can’t see them making the cut even though I’d have them in there.

It’s an interesting decision to name the final squad early after just one warm-up game rather than after the third or fourth and there are pros and cons to both options but Borthwick has said he wants clarity and to build cohesion and that’s understandable.

Monday’s squad announcement will be fascinating and, whichever way he slices the pie, it’ll be an exciting group capable of making a semi-final at least and after that, who knows. Make no mistake though, this weekend in Cardiff is one last big audition.

My England 2023 World Cup Squad

Forwards

Hookers: Jamie Blamire, Theo Dan, Jamie George

Props: Ellis Genge, Joe Marler, Bevan Rodd, Dan Cole, Kyle Sinckler, Will Stuart

Second rows: Ollie Chessum, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, George Martin

Back rows: Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Tom Pearson, Billy Vunipola, Jack Willis

Backs

Scrum-halfs: Danny Care, Jack van Poortvliet, Ben Youngs

Fly-halfs: Owen Farrell, George Ford, Marcus Smith

Centres: Elliot Daly, Ollie Lawrence, Joe Marchant, Henry Slade, Manu Tuilagi

Outside backs: Henry Arundell, Cadan Murley, Freddie Steward, Anthony Watson