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Borthwick explains Smith's absence, why Marler, Martin are starting
By Liam Heagney
Steve Borthwick has explained making three changes to his England Rugby World Cup semi-final team, revealing that Marcus Smith had a return to play protocol setback earlier this week while he felt it best to use Ellis Genge and Ollie Chessum off the bench rather than at starters in the pack to counter-act the influence of the famed Springboks bomb squad.
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Smith had initially passed an in-game HIA after being on the receiving end of a yellow carded head clash from Fiji Vinaya Habosi, returning to the field last Sunday to help England win their quarter-final 30-24 in Marseille.
However, he was restricted to modified training on Tuesday when his team commenced their semi-final preparations in Paris and although defence coach Kevin Sinfield said later that day that all 33 players were in contention for selection versus South Africa, head coach Borthwick has now admitted he knew in advance of Thursday’s team unveiling that picking Smith was a non-runner.
“Marcus was unavailable for selection due to the return to play protocol,” explained Borthwick on Thursday afternoon in Paris. “It was earlier in the week. He took a knock in the game, passed the first parts of the HIA process, finished the game. There is subsequent parts of the HIA process and in one part of that he did not pass and then it was confirmed to me he was unavailable for selection.
“He is perfectly fine in terms of symptoms, he doesn’t feel anything and would expect him to be available for selection after this weekend,” continued Borthwick, who was also asked about accusations that South Africa manipulated the HIA process in their quarter-final versus France to give players a 10-minute in-game rest.
“We have got a match officials team that is world-class, led by Ben O’Keeffe. I’m sure everybody around the pitch as well has every bit of process in place as it would be, so there are no issues there from my perspective. I will say again about Marcus, it is right to reiterate that player welfare is critical and vital to us.”
The recall of Freddie Steward as full-back in the absence of Smith is the only England backline change, with the two other alterations coming in the front five with Joe Marler and George Martin surprisingly elevated to start in place of the benched Genge and Chessum.
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“There are a few factors in it,” he said about these role reversals. “As ever I go through the selection process, the rigour I put to that in terms of how we wish to play, what we need to do, the strengths of the opposition, the opportunities on the pitch, assess all the players.
“Cognisant the travel we have had, the six-day turnaround, what we needed to do and we are blessed here with a fantastic group of players, the strength in depth, the competition for places so I decided to make some change between the starting team and the bench and the players are relish in the challenge ahead.
“We have got three brilliant looseheads in this squad. Ellis has been terrific and I thought he played really well last week. Coming back into the squad after some time away, Joe has also been an incredible influence around the group and we have got Bevan Rodd who is a young player but I would have no hesitation in Bevan being in the 23 this weekend. It’s a really competitive position.
“We need to always balance who is to start and who is to finish and understand we need an 80-minute performance. The start is crucial, the end is vital and we understand that and the performance of our bench throughout this tournament has been very, very good.
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“Both of those players [Marler and Genge] are top-quality scrummagers and that is important given the strength of the South African scrum. We know they are rated as the best scrum in the world.
“Every piece of information has them as the best scrum in the world, so we know we are going to scrum well throughout the game and I felt not just at the loosehead but understanding the combination of the two sets of front row forwards that we have, that is also important. As I say, I thought Ellis was terrific last week, but Joe to start and Ellis to finish is the right combination this week.”
Switching to the promotion of Martin, the 22-year-old who has just eight caps (three as a starter), Borthwick outlined: “I have known him for a few years now, from a very young man to seeing somebody now who is at home on the international stage.
“He has come on to the pitch as second row and six at the tournament, has started a game in the pool stages and every minute he has been on the field he has performed and has performed in some big moments as well, key moments for the team. He just embraces getting onto the pitch and giving everything for the team, a real team man.
“The front row boys always give the second rows some pretty direct feedback on how much weight they are giving, they are usually pretty positive about the weight George Martin gives.
“He is a very athletic young man but he is one that every challenge since I started work with him a few years ago every challenge I have put or he wanted in front of him he has just embraced and ripped right into it. He has been playing really well in this tournament.
“I considered all the permutations of a 5/3 or a 6/2 (forwards/backs split). The other thing I considered, and this is much more now over the period of time, is understanding the 80 minutes. We need to ensure, as we have seen in our most recent games, the importance of Q4 (the fourth quarter).
“We saw that last week, we saw it the week before. So, having the players that are on the bench are the right players to finish the game the way we want to… and the right players to start the game. That is always the balance.”
Looking ahead generally to the semi-final in which the Springboks are firm favourites to win, Borthwick reckoned: “South Africa pose a great deal of questions, and challenges in the game as you would expect from the No1 side in the world. They have got that traditional power of set-piece power they have had for a long time.
“Their contestable kicking game is another great strength of theirs and one thing they have added to their game over the last four years has been their ball movement and the speed they have on the edges. We know we are going to have to combat those things to make this a contest, they impose that on the opposition.
“And then they also have a squad that is jam-packed full of power and size. So you know they have got a good team to start and they have got players coming off the bench who are very strong. We have got a pretty strong team and I think we have got a pretty strong bench as well. We know it’s a fantastic challenge against the No1 side in the world. It’s a challenge we are eager to get into.”
