Steve Borthwick names his Six Nations squad on Tuesday and as so often with the English game his issue is not a shortage of talent but of sifting and selecting it effectively.
You can look at stand-off and the midfield and come up with numerous variants but perhaps nowhere is more fluid in terms of possibilities at present than the back row.
The last time Borthwick went through the exercise in the autumn he came up with Tom Curry at blindside flanker, Sam Underhill at openside and Ben Earl at number eight to face Japan.
It was a horses-for-courses selection against lightweight opposition which the England head coach would have looked to rebalance for the Six Nations anyway but form and fitness are threatening a more drastic overhaul.
Borthwick is not by nature a rash hirer and firer but there is a chance that for his side’s next outing in Dublin none of those players will start – at least not in the same position.
Lawrence Dallaglio, the England back row great, sees evolution as inevitable and revolution quite possible.
“It’s obviously an area I keep a close eye on and it’s also an area where I think England have a lot of options,” he said. “That said, I wouldn’t say England have got the back row worked out completely at this stage.
I expect there will be new names in that squad. There has to be really given England’s recent results.
“There’s no doubt there are going to be some changes for the Six Nations. I expect there will be new names in that squad. There has to be really given England’s recent results.”
The eight back rows who were knocking around the England squad at the end of the autumn have three seriously strong challengers breathing down their necks.
Given he was in the original autumn squad but had to withdraw after injuring his knee in a training camp in Girona, Ollie Chessum will be recalled if he can prove he is back up to speed. With a following wind, he will make a timely return for Leicester in the Champions Cup against Ulster on Saturday.
“Chessum is a player I think England have missed,” said Dallaglio. “He has not been able to cement his place because of injury but I think at his best he is a high-quality operator and someone Steve knows all about.”
If proof were needed as to how highly Borthwick rates Leicester’s ginger lighthouse he is one of only three back rows to hold an enhanced EPS contract (the others are Tom Curry and Earl).
It is also highly likely – unless Borthwick has taken a jar full of stubborn pills – Tom Willis, the Saracens eight, will be promoted.
He has been tearing up the Premiership all season but he took things to a new level against Bristol last weekend with an all-round display which ranked up there with anything seen in the league for years. If ‘in form’ wore rugby boots he would be it.
“If you look at the progression of Tom Willis since being omitted from the World Cup squad he has gone on to become the best forward in the country,” said Dallaglio.
We don’t like to throw people in too early but from what I’ve seen of Pollock, certainly in the domestic competition, he’s ready now.
“He’s got the ballast to add to England’s ball-carrying abilities.
“I think England need players of his quality if they are going to take that next step up and compete with the very, very best sides in the world.”
The really interesting one is Henry Pollock. He is only 19 but with his whirling dervish devilry, he has made the leap from age-grade superstar rugby to senior stand-out look easy this season. He has been consistently outjumping the hill for Northampton.
There is no doubt he will be an England player one day but might his moment be looming already?
The Pollock bandwagon may have been slowed by Phil Dowson’s decision to leave him out of the Saints’ starting line-up for their crucial Premiership game against Bath last weekend.
That hinted Northampton’s director of rugby does not think his young tyro is quite ready for the biggest games against the physically biggest teams.
Even if he does turn 20 next Tuesday, there aren’t many teenage Test forwards his age. The impression he made off the bench though against Bath suggested he can more than hold his own in any company.
“It’s a young man’s game now,” said Dallaglio. “I was 22 when I was first capped but there were only nine league games a season back then! It’s a very different landscape now.
“We don’t like to throw people in too early but from what I’ve seen of Pollock, certainly in the domestic competition, he’s ready now. I would be very surprised if the likes of Willis and Pollock are not introduced, if not to the team, certainly to the wider squad. It’s just a question of whether Steve feels the balance of the back row – and the back five indeed – is the right one.”
Balance is the crux of the issue. Borthwick likes a specialist third lineout option hence Chessum’s likely recall. Yet at the same time if he also goes for Willis at eight there is going to be a stock car race with some high-quality casualties for the one remaining openside spot.
That just has to be the way the cookie crumbles if England are to achieve the harmony – and heft – they need to take on the top teams, according to Dallaglio.
Tom Willis is a bit more of an old-school, traditional eight. He is a Kieran Read-type build.
“We get fixated in the back row about selection but actually it’s about complementary selections,” he said.
“There’s this need now to have an additional jumper in the lineout which moves your selection around a little bit. Height has been an issue and Chessum supplies that.
“Tom Willis is a bit more of an old-school, traditional eight. He is a Kieran Read-type build. While England have picked all sorts of players in that position over the years, I do like to see someone in that position who plays there every week.
“Then there is a whole plethora of options available to England on the other side with both Curry brothers and then Sam Underhill who every time we write him off seems to come back with plenty more.
“Ben Earl has not done a huge amount wrong and certainly in an England jersey seems to have always done exceptionally well. He’s been very consistent with his performances.
“Then there is Pollock who I have watched for Northampton and who I saw for England A against Australia A this season.
“There are lots of options but if you look at sides that are doing very well they have that bulk and that power. South Africa and France have such big guys. England have to make sure they have a big enough team on the gain line and aerially as well.”
There are still moving parts ahead of Borthwick’s squad announcement next week with the extent of Underhill’s ankle injury, picked up against Northampton, still being assessed. He will miss this weekend’s Champions Cup activity which offers a last chance for players to sway Borthwick’s thinking.
Pollock at Stade Francais for Northampton, Chandler Cunningham-South at Toulon for Harlequins and Bath’s Ted Hill against Clermont, which Dallaglio will be working on for Premier Sports on Sunday, have a lot to play for. So do the rest of the back row hopefuls.
“I would imagine and this is the last opportunity to force your way in,” said Dallaglio.
“I think this competition is still very much seen as the next level of rugby before you get capped. It allows Steve and all the coaches to have a real strong look at players in a different environment. It has everything you need to test those players. It is going to be an exciting weekend.”
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Chandler Cunningham-South is a much better blindside than Ollie Chessum and was far and away, England's best loose forward in 2024.
nah, Ben Earl was much better.
CCS ended the year very well, but to date most of his best games for England have been off the bench.
I like Earl as a bench man. The energy he would bring on 60 minutes would be insane. If Chessum goes 6 (or George Martin) for lineout then CCS would be bench as you have 3 locks on the park already. Then a toss up between Unders and a Curry at 7, but Willis is definitely 8.
Earl brings pretty good energy in the first 60 though. He's been England's best forward for ages so really can't see him getting benched.
I would have Pollock involved in the Argentina tour, not this years Six Nations. Willis should be involved though. I completely agree England have missed Chessum - he does that 6 role very well and I think George Martin plays better with Chessum in the team, Martin didnt kick on in the summer or autumn for me.
6. Chessum 7. Underhill 8. Willis
With CCS and Earl on the bench.
Tom Curry has to be somewhere. wpuld you do 6-2 split or have alex coles as sub lock
I agree 6N is probably too soon for Pollock unless you are talking a bench spot vs Italy/Wales but he should be part of the wider squad getting the experience of being in camp with a view to seeing him get some decent game time in the Summer vs Argentina
Agree. Although I’d start CCS and have Chessum on the bench. That combination of CCS and Underhill would help us stop sides on the gain line and prevent them generating momentum. Earl on the bench to take advantage when it opens up in the latter stages.