LONG READ Mick Cleary: 'England have little chance of winning the World Cup unless they do one key thing – sort out their midfield.'

England have little chance of winning the World Cup in Australia in two years’ time unless they do one key thing – sort out their midfield. It’s as simple and as stark as that. Whichever way you box and cox it no team has flourished without a settled, top-end centre partnership. Carling and Guscott, Greenwood and Tindall (with a rather important input from Mike Catt along the way). What about those peerless Wallabies, Tim Horan and Jason Little? Kiwi muscle allied to Mensa IQ, Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith? Fast forward a few years and the current crop of high-achievers are an essential part of their country’s prowess – Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel for the Springboks while in recent years a combo of Bundee Aki, Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw has been the bedrock of Ireland’s midfield. Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones, anyone, or likewise, Italian aces, Tommaso Menoncello and Ignacio Brex?

You get the point. Get your centres in place and you’ve got base camp taken care of. Even getting one of the fixtures and fittings decided is a big step forward. Are Harlequins anything like the force that they once were – and Marcus Smith a laid-back productive operator at fly-half – now that Andre Esterhuizen is no longer leading the charge down that inside channel?

England, by contrast, have had to shuffle their deck of cards constantly since Steve Borthwick took over. Injury, of course, has forced his hand but if he doesn’t manage to find some stability pretty soon – and this November is the must-do starting point – then they will never acquire the attacking shape and fluency that the leading international teams are delivering as a matter of course these days. The Rugby Championship showed us that.

Borthwick has worked his way through a legion of players over the last two and a half years (three years in fast-approaching December), working his way through the likes of Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slade, Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi, Fraser Dingwal, Joe Marchant, Luke Northmore and on and on.

Of course you have to feel for Borthwick when it seemed that the tour to Argentina in the summer had given him a copper-bottomed option in Seb Atkinson only for the Gloucester man to be struck down with quad and MCL damage, a cruel blow for both player and country. Atkinson had given England edge and direction, a foil to those outside him.

Given the depth of resources available to Borthwick, there will not be too much sympathy to be found in other countries even though we might be empathise with his predicament. And that predicament revolves around Ollie Lawrence. The Bath centre has returned from injury and offers the prospect of filling a slot in the England midfield in much the manner that all those luminaries mentioned above did for their respective teams. Lawrence brings so much – pace, footwork, vision and defensive cleverness as well as presence.

There are also legitimate claims to be made on behalf of the understated Fraser Dingwall, unfussy and unfazed, possessing the sort of game-field awareness that a Will Greenwood did, dedicated first and foremost to helping those around him thrive.

But where to play him? His more natural position, the one where he offers the greatest threat, is in the outside channel. He has an eye for any gap, knows how to drift off defenders and hit that arc. Defensively, too, he is sound, alert and well-organised.

Yet in Atkinson’s absence there is a strong case to be made for him starting at 12. There are also, to be fair, legitimate claims to be made on behalf of the understated Fraser Dingwall, unfussy and unfazed, possessing the sort of game-field awareness that a Will Greenwood did, dedicated first and foremost to helping those around him thrive.

But the clock is ticking and England have to nail colours to their mast, albeit injury ensures that the best laid plans might go awry at any point. But here’s another thing. There has been plenty of chatter about Northampton wing, Tommy Freeman, switching infield at some point to have a shot at outside centre. Now is that point, Tommy. Now is the moment. It’s time to step up to the plate.

Of course it is a risk. But learning on the job, and doing it well, is what sets the very good player apart from the merely good player, one able to adapt and produce. Freeman is now an established test player, a Lion, adept at sorting it out on the hoof, the very essence of a Lions player. That experience in Australia will stand him in great stead.

England need more pace and potency in their attack, and certainly on their flanks. Freeman is a terrific player but he is not going to frighten you in the way a Damian Penaud or Louis Bielle-Biarrey or Cheslin Kolbe might.

Outside centre seems a good fit. Of course it’s not a shoo-in for him. Far from it with Henry Slade hitting form last weekend with a couple of tries in his 23 point haul against Harlequins. Slade remains a very live contender. But it’s time for England and Freeman to take the plunge. It may seem alarmist to say that the World Cup is on the horizon but it is. This is not club rugby where two years is a long time and a lot of games. Borthwick has five campaigns to sort his thinking.

There is another factor in play as regards the putative Freeman switch – that of Noah Caluori. The five-try Saracens wunderkind is in the England squad, notionally for the look-see experience. Yet Borthwick has also hinted that he might feature in the autumn series. And why not? England need more pace and potency in their attack, and certainly on their flanks. Freeman is a terrific player but he is not going to frighten you in the way a Damian Penaud or Louis Bielle-Biarrey or Cheslin Kolbe might. It’s great to see Immanuel Feyi-Waboso back in business. But England need to bring sustained threats out there be it through the gas of a Henry Arundell or Adam Radwan or Cadan Murley. Caluori offers presence in the air as once an Israel Folau did for Australia.

With George Ford at fly-half pulling the strings, and Lawrence alongside Freeman in midfield, England have a range of attacking options at their disposal. Of course, Max Ojomoh should be in that conversation, too. What is crucial is that Borthwick makes up his mind and sticks with it. He has to make a call. And then cross every finger that everyone stays fit.