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No change to England XV to face Wales but one bench tweak confirmed
By Liam Heagney
Steve Borthwick has ignored the temptation to tinker with his England selection for this Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Wales, naming a starting XV that has no changes from last weekend’s opening-round win over Italy.
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The English had to come from being behind at the interval in Rome to eventually secure their 27-24 success, but the reaction to that inconsistent performance has been to go in against the Welsh at Twickenham with the exact same starting side that ran out at Stadio Olimpico.
It means second starts for last weekend’s XV debutants Fraser Dingwall and Ethan Roots at inside centre and blindside respectively, along with the retention of George Ford and Alex Mitchell as the preferred half-back partnership.
The only tweak Borthwick has made is the reinstatement of Ellis Genge to the England bench. The loosehead was originally named as last weekend’s back-up to Joe Marler.
However, a foot injury materialised after the match day 23 had been named and it eventually resulted in Genge giving up his replacement role to Beno Obano who went to play the closing minutes against the Italians.
Those joining Genge on the bench in London include back-rower Chandler Cunningham-South, out-half Fin Smith and winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso who all came on as replacements in Rome to make their Test-level debuts.
Not since the 2019 Rugby World Cup final have England named an unchanged starting side from one week to the next and Borthwick said in an RFU statement: “It was both pleasing and important to have started our Six Nations campaign in Rome with a victory.
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“It was good to have done so in front of so many travelling England supporters. However, we know there are areas of our game to improve as we prepare for this Saturday’s game against a spirited Wales team.
“With a new player group and a number of new caps, we have tried to develop our game on both sides of the ball. Such changes take time, and I was pleased with how quickly the players settled and adapted last weekend against Italy.
“We are delighted to be back playing in front of a sold-out Twickenham this Saturday. The visit of the Wales team is always a fixture that creates a special atmosphere.
“I have no doubt that this group of players are relishing the challenge before them and are looking forward to creating a very special experience for our supporters.”
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England (vs Wales, Saturday)
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 32 caps)
14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 4 caps)
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 58 caps)
12. Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)
11. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 65 caps)
10. George Ford (Sale Sharks, 92 caps) – vice-captain
9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 12 caps)
1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 89 caps)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 86 caps) – captain
3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 34 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 77 caps) – vice-captain
5. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 19 caps)
6. Ethan Roots (Exeter Chiefs, 1 cap)
7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 31 caps)
8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 26 caps)
Replacements:
16. Theo Dan (Saracens, 8 caps)
17. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 58 caps) – vice-captain
18. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 108 caps)
19. Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 4 caps)
20. Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 1 cap)
21. Danny Care (Harlequins, 97 caps)
22. Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)
23. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs, 1 cap)
It’s great to see consistency in selection, albeit potentially (probably) enforced by ongoing injuries to some degree. Great opportunity for the likes of Dingwall to right a few wrong’s from last week (insofar as the criticism levelled based on a single performance). Hopefully the flow of the game allows Fin Smith some more minutes this week. Excited to see Cunningham-South go again too!
It’s interesting to see Dingwall given another start. Personally I think Dan Kelly is very unlucky not to be wearing 12, but a lot of the criticism levelled at Dingwall has seemed unfair. He’s a good defensive centre forced to play a new system in-between a 10 and a 13 he hasn’t played with before, and i’m sure he’ll improve drastically with another week of training.
For his sake, let’s hope so. It could be a while until he gets another chance if not…
Yes Dingwall deserves another chance he is very good for Northampton but it is not simple playing next to Ford who offers little in the way of attack and virtually nothing in defence.