Three major talking points about latest England team to play Wales
Steve Borthwick has unveiled his England team for the second of their four Rugby World Cup warm-up matches. It’s a selection that contains 11 changes to the starting XV following last Saturday’s 9-20 loss to Wales in Cardiff.
It represents the first starts in the Borthwick era for Elliot Daly, Joe Marler, Courtney Lawes and Billy Vunipola (only Lawes has featured under Borthwick, playing a dozen minutes off the bench against France in March). Here, RugbyPass looks at three talking points ahead of this Saturday’s rematch with the Welsh in London:
Alone Freddie stands… but all eyes on Billy V
Freddie Steward goes into this weekend’s match as the only player to be picked to start in all seven England matches under Borthwick.
The indispensable full-back featured the whole way through the Guinness Six Nations and that selection consistency continued last weekend in Cardiff when he became one of four players to start what was then all six of the England games under their new head coach.
A week later and Steward is now in a class of his own as the other three ever-presents have fallen by the wayside. Ellis Genge has been given a bench role for what will be his 50th cap if he is used.
Lewis Ludlam is omitted following his lung-bursting efforts at the Principality, allowing club colleague Lawes to make his long-awaited comeback. Meanwhile, Alex Dombrandt was one of the headline-grabbing omissions when the 33-strong World Cup squad was named last Monday.
The back row is the most interesting sector of Borthwick’s latest team selection. Lawes is viewed as world-class when he is at the top of his game and evidence will be sought that he is ready to star at this World Cup and won’t take an age to get up to speed after last spring’s short-lived Six Nations comeback.
Then there is Ben Earl at openside. A week ago there was concern that he could be squeezed out of World Cup selection given the way Borthwick had jettisoned him after two rounds of the Six Nations and was giving the much-hyped Tom Pearson a debut in Cardiff. In the end, Earl made the cut, was the recipient of great public praise from Borthwick, and is now set to make his first Test start after 15 caps at a sub.
However, so much more focus will be on the presence of Vunipola at No8. It’s quite the call to shaft a player that had started all previous six matches of your tenure, so Borthwick is staking his reputation on Vunipola being the missing dominant ball-carrying link after so much time was invested in Dombrandt in this role.
Borthwick has insisted that Vunipola “looks in great shape, looks as fit as I have ever seen him” despite two knee ops since April. Some immediate proof of that will be required on Saturday.
Five RWC players yet to get warm-up selection
The sole purpose of the four-match England schedule this August is to ensure all 33 of their picks for France are champing at the bit for action when their World Cup campaign kicks off in Marseille on September 9 versus Argentina. This latest warm-up match day 23, though, means that five players won’t have had any minutes across the opening two friendlies.
Ollie Chessum and Jack Walker have been injury rehab colleagues the whole way through this summer with England, while Tom Curry is still nursing a twisted ankle suffered last week on the training ground. The two backs still without selection are Anthony Watson and Manu Tuilagi, who sat out training on Tuesday. That latter situation has paved the way for this weekend’s fresh midfield combination of Ollie Lawrence with Joe Marchant.
The hope for all five absentees is that they are selection contenders next week to face Ireland or, worst-case scenario, they get to play versus Fiji on August 26. The last thing England need is bringing players to France that don’t get to play at month this month.
One interesting aspect of this Saturday’s team is the repeat naming of Will Stuart as the starting tighthead. Does that suggest there might potentially be a change in the pecking order ahead of the finals?
The first-choice Kyle Sinckler – who started all five Six Nations games – was a second-half sub in Cardiff and despite being fully fit and available for selection this weekend, has been omitted from the 23 with Borthwick naming Dan Cole as the back-up to repeat starter Stuart.
Excluded Hill’s odd-looking bench inclusion
Borthwick spoke confidently last Monday about the clarity that announcing his World Cup squad early would bring to preparations, yet just three days later he has named one of the excluded gang of 10 on his Summer Nations Series bench.
There is a very good reason why Jonny Hill will wear the No19 shirt at Twickenham. David Ribbans failed a HIA in Cardiff while the green light for Ollie Chessum to return to play following his ankle operation last March hasn’t yet been given.
But it is curious that a player who would have been left devastated last Sunday morning by his omission chat with Borthwick has still got a prominent role to play in a Test game with England’s end-of-month departure to France now just weeks away.
Saturday’s selection has left the door ajar for Hill to come off the bench, play a stormer and leave the coach fielding an awkward question as to why he was cut from the World Cup squad in the first place.
This type of post-RWC squad omission involvement isn’t unprecedented, though. In 2019, just days before England flew to Japan or the finals, Joe Marchant started the warm-up win over Italy in Newcastle and forwards Charlie Ewels and Matt Kvesic also came off the bench even though all three weren’t part of the 31-strong squad selected to go to the Far East.
Comments on RugbyPass
“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
37 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe 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?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 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!
5 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 …
33 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
4 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.
5 Go to comments