Steve Borthwick admits 80-85% of RWC 2027 selection is locked down

England will hold a number of World Cup auditions against Japan on Saturday, with Steve Borthwick urging his hopefuls to seize their chance by putting the team first.

Fresh from a 45-22 mauling of Australia, Borthwick has overhauled his starting XV for the second Nations Championship clash of the autumn by making 10 changes including a return for George Ford at fly-half.

Wings Will Joseph and Cadan Murley and centre Max Ojomoh are among the new faces and all three are international rookies who know that by impressing against Japan, they will increase the likelihood of travelling to Australia next year.

On the bench, debutant Archie McParland, Emmanuel Iyogun, Arthur Clark and Greg Fisilau will also be aiming to make the most of a precious opportunity, with the strongest available matchday 23 set to be restored for New Zealand’s visit to Twickenham a week later.

With little additional scope to experiment in the remaining 10 Tests before the tournament opens against Tonga in 11 months, Borthwick has made it clear what is at stake on Saturday – with a warning not to go off-script.

“I’m really aware that the narrative around World Cup selection exists and we don’t avoid it,” he said.

“Probably 26 to 28 of the 33-man squad which is pretty clear. You’re now talking about the next five, six, seven positions.

“The team is always the most important thing but, at the same time, it’s the balance between the team, self-sacrifice and self-expression.

“You’ve got players there that when the moment is right, and they’ll judge the moment, that self-expression comes through.

“So Will Joseph can get his hands on the ball and back himself in those moments. Go and beat the man in front of him. Similarly for Max Ojomoh, there are always moments where players go and express themselves.

“But those moments will come more often when we’re playing a really cohesive team performance.

“The way the team performed against Australia, it was very much a team performance.

“While there were some great individual performances, it’s all about what the team does. So that’s where the emphasis is.”

Borthwick revealed that it was under Eddie Jones, his England predecessor and now coach of Japan, that he first learned about the need to balance “two horizons”, consisting of “the game immediately in front of you and the World Cup which is not too far away”.

It is for this reason that he has chosen to rest key personnel fly-half Fin Smith, wing Tommy Freeman and prop Fin Baxter completely and drop Ben Curry to the bench.

“I want to make sure they are playing really well for England now – and for a long time,” Borthwick said.

Ojomoh’s last international appearance produced a man of the match performance against Argentina, but the attack-minded inside centre has been persistently overlooked at inside centre ever since.

Joseph’s inclusion on the right wing ahead of Joe Marchant and Noah Caluori is a reward for his swashbuckling form for Gloucester while he has also been turning heads in England training, with one run drawing gasps from his team-mates.

“You heard cheers, which I don’t think I’ve ever heard before,” Borthwick said. “We’ve got the best players in England and they have just been stunned by what they saw happen.”