The verdict from England on naming Slade and Lawrence at midfield
Steve Borthwick has outlined why he felt compelled to name Henry Slade in an England midfield partnership with Ollie Lawrence. The Exeter and Bath centres will combine as starters for just the fifth occasion on Sunday versus Italy in the Guinness Six Nations – and the first time since the July 2021 win over the USA at Twickenham.
The reunification of the Slade/Lawrence combination came after new England head coach Borthwick decided against starting Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell together for a ninth successive Test match as the 10/12 partnership.
Dismissed head coach Eddie Jones had originally toyed with that 10/12 alliance in November 2021 against the Wallabies but the tactic was put on hold after Farrell was injured. It was rekindled on the three-Test tour to Australia last July and maintained across the entire four-game Autumn Nations Series.
Borthwick persisted with its use in his first game in charge of England last week, but the 23-29 defeat to Scotland has finally forced a rethink and the team will now line up against the Azzurri with Farell named at out-half and Lawrence and Slade combining in the centres.
It was against Georgia in November 2020 when this midfield partnership was first used, Slade wearing 12 and Lawrence 13 in that match and again in the following weekend’s win over Ireland. When it came to playing Scotland in the 2021 Six Nations, the numbers were reversed with Slade wearing 13 and Lawrence 12.
They were next in those same positions for the summer series match against the Americans and now, 19 months on, they have been reunited as the starting England 12/13. Asked to explain why he believed that Lawrence and Slade together was the best way to tackle Italy at the weekend, Borthwick said: “I’m not going to give too much about the tactics away but in terms of a dynamic, having Henry Slade available this week has been very important.
“He was unavailable last week and having his distribution skills, we have all seen that, and his left foot kicking option is also a great strength. Any team that has the ability to have right and left kickers in the back line, it’s a strength.
“And then as I look at different defensive systems, Ollie Lawrence brings a certain skill set and he has been bringing that skill set – we would all agree watching the Premiership this season he has been tremendous. So I want him to bring that skill set that he has and the way that he carries the ball and the way he also defends in a physical manner that he does.”
While Borthwick had exited the England setup under Jones to take charge at Leicester by the time Lawrence first came on the international scene, he had worked with Slade while he was an assistant Test-level coach. That previous experience has now enabled Borthwick to compare the Slade then with the Slade that is back in England XV and he was enthused by the player’s development over the years.
“I look back to some of the games in the first part I was in the England team as an assistant coach, Henry played in some very important games and he brought his strengths. I have been out of the team for two or three years and coming back, I can’t tell you how impressed I have been with him.
“The conversations I have had with him, the determination he has had to be in this team, the concern he had when he had the red card (last month with Exeter) that was then rescinded, his concern of not being available to play for England and then, unfortunately, it led to an injury.
“Just seeing how passionate he is about wanting to play for England, he is clearly more experience now, he is a really seasoned campaigner but at international and club level and he has an outstanding skill set.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments