The Feyi-Waboso absence and three other England team talking points

This Saturday’s match away to France is the biggest game of the year’s Guinness Six Nations for Steve Borthwick’s England. Last weekend’s ambush of Ireland guaranteed that they will finish the tournament with more wins than losses for the first time since 2020.

The audacity of the performance was also so inspiring that it mended the wounding disconnect that had existed between the team and its Twickenham fans in recent years. Job well done for the season, then? No.

So good were England that the grand expectation heading to Lyon must now be to show that their display versus the Irish wasn’t a one-off and that they are genuinely capable of playing entertaining, winning rugby to a very high level two matches in succession. That’s something they haven’t previously produced in the Borthwick era.

Boks Office on how physical France vs England will be | RPTV

The Boks Office crew preview France vs England in the final round of the Six Nations. Watch the full show on RugbyPass TV

Watch now

Boks Office on how physical France vs England will be | RPTV

The Boks Office crew preview France vs England in the final round of the Six Nations. Watch the full show on RugbyPass TV

Watch now

But for the self-diagnosed Immanuel Feyi-Waboso concussion, Borthwick would have gone in against the French with the same starting XV as last weekend.

With the exciting rookie unfortunately unavailable, the vacancy has been filled by Elliot Daly while fresh additions to the bench are Ethan Roots and Manu Tuilagi. Here are the RugbyPass talking points ahead of Saturday’s Le Crunch renewal:

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The Feyi-Waboso effect
You can’t doubt Daly’s ability to play Test rugby; last week’s run off the bench was his 68th appearance in an England shirt. However, Feyi-Waboso brought a different dynamic to the English attack in his first start and the question that must be asked heading into round five is how much of a limitation might having to start Daly be on the team’s new-found creativity.

England stretched Ireland by getting the ball wide often and rookie Feyi-Waboso clocked some impressive stats. He ran 70 metres in his nine carries, beating five defenders, and making nine passes only further highlighted how fast-twitched an operator he is. Six tackles were also put in.

Let’s contrast that busy contribution as a starter to what Daly managed in his three February starts: A combined total of 72 metres from 13 carries, four defenders beaten, 14 passes, six tackles but three misses.

Daly was, of course, England’s first try scorer of the championship with a day one first-half effort in Rome, but Feyi-Waboso needed only a couple of minutes to strike as a sub on day three in Scotland.

It’s safe to suggest then that the 21-year-old newcomer has packed more of a punch in his limited time compared to his 31-year-old rival.

Now, the plan to beat France of course won’t be the same as the one that burgled Ireland and it must also be noted that Daly plays on the left and Feyi-Waboso on the right, but there will be an added focus on what the reinstated Daly can contribute now that Feyi-Waboso had his chance and set a very high bar.

Manu the 23rd man
It’s been an unusual occurrence for England to have Tuilagi fit but not in their team recently. He was always a must-pick over the years on nearly every occasion when injury-free but that reputation has been dented in recent times with Borthwick going with Ollie Lawrence as his inside centre preference from round three onwards in tandem with Henry Slade on the outside.

Tuilagi, though, is the second beneficiary of the Feyi-Waboso concussion, taking the bench spot vacated by the promoted Daly, and it will be curious what the soon-to-be 33-year-old can offer as England’s 23rd man.

Just eight times in his 59-cap career has he been a bench pick and having been a starter in all six appearances under Borthwick at the recent Rugby World Cup, what he can possibly offer as a replacement piques the interest given it’s not his usual Test role.

There is every chance this reserve selection won’t happen again – Tuilagi is out of contract at Sale and the indications are that he will be playing overseas, potentially in the Top 14, in the 2024/25 season, making him ineligible for England selection. If it is to be his last Test outing, his cameo will certainly be worth the watch.

Bonus points not the issue
It was quite the leap to have Six Nations CEO Tom Harrison defend the tournament’s bonus points system in midweek. Yes, the possibility does exist that Ireland can lose to Scotland and still be crowned champions with just three wins compared to the four that England could potentially have at the finish.

But there is a heck of a lot of rugby to be played before Scotland can beat Ireland for the first time in Dublin since 2010 and for England to beat France away for the first time since 2016.

The lesson from last weekend, of course, is to never write off the Six Nations as a predictable tournament, but title talk shouldn’t be something on English lips heading into this weekend’s round five.

Ireland are kicking off three and a quarter hours before England even start versus the French, so the title party could be in full swing at Aviva Stadium before the English bus pulls into Groupama Stadium.

This scheduling means that the build-up focus should simply be on Borthwick and co targeting the type of performance that can win them a very fine second place, not wasting energy on the sort of hypothetical questions Harrison had to address.

In Dan Steve trusts
We don’t at all intend to come across as ageist in highlighting another 30-something player in the England set-up but it is dumbfounding how there isn’t a queue of Gallagher Premiership tightheads eager to take the shirt from Dan Cole, even though his fine renaissance under Borthwick shows no sign of stopping yet.

Soon to be 37, the front-rower demonstrated versus Ireland how very useful he still is at Test level, putting to bed the calls that he should be retired after how things had gone for the team in their round three loss to Scotland.

Reliable set-piece, breakdowns and tackles remain the veteran’s calling card – ball-carrying definitely isn’t his thing and never will be.

But you have to wonder what is up with the stock of English tightheads as Cole has managed to come back from four years in the wilderness post-World Cup 2019 to be poised to make his 17th appearance – and his eighth start – in Borthwick’s 21 games in charge.

It’s quite an impressive run of games but also a poor reflection on the list of potential alternatives. In Dan Steve certainly trusts!

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Brian O'Driscoll

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