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England change 12 for Chile; Marcus Smith given a brand new role
By Liam Heagney
Steve Borthwick has made a dozen changes to his England Rugby World Cup team to face Chile on Saturday in Lille, recalling the now suspension-free Owen Farrell and handing Marcus Smith the No15 shirt for the first time in his Test career.
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Having followed up the 27-10 opening round win over Argentina in Marseille with last Sunday’s 34-12 success versus Japan in Nice, the head coach has decided to explore his squad’s depth against the South American minnows as only Elliot Daly, Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlam are starters retained from last weekend.
Borthwick came into match week three with seven of his 33-strong squad having not yet been selected to play at the tournament and all seven will now make their France 2023 debuts.
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Backline trio Henry Arundell, Max Malins and Farrell are all named to start and of the four unused forwards so far, Bevan Rodd, David Ribbans and Jack Willis are included in the starting pack with Jack Walker backing up Theo Dan from the bench.
Even Daly, the sole backline player retained for this weekend, has been handed a very different role as he will line out at outside centre in a midfield partnership with Ollie Lawrence, who starts with week. Joe Marchant slipps to the bench and Manu Tuilagi is rested.
Smith, who came on for the closing 11 minutes at full-back versus Japanese for the dead leg Freddie Steward, will now get a maiden start in that position with Arundell taking over from Jonny May on the right wing and Malins named on the left and Daly moving inside.
At half-back, Farrell returns to skipper the team in his first outing since his August 12 red card versus Wales earned him a four-game ban. He is joined at half-back by Danny Care, with George Ford and Ben Youngs providing the bench cover.
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In the forwards, Rodd and Dan join Sinckler in the front row in place of the benched Joe Marler and the rested Jamie George. Will Stuart is again the reserve tighthead.
At lock, Ribbans and George Martin will form a new partnership, with Ollie Chessum in reserve this week and Maro Itoje rested.
As for the back row, recent skipper Courtney Lawes is rested and Ben Earl switches to the bench to accommodate a start at No8 for last Sunday’s sub Billy Vunipola and for Willis at openside. Ludlam, the No8 in Nice, switches to blindside.
Borthwick said: “One of the many great things about the Rugby World Cup is that the tournament provides an excellent opportunity to play against teams that we rarely have a chance to see.
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“It is for that reason that we are particularly looking forward to testing ourselves against Chile on Saturday. Having watched our next opponent closely, we know that we must prepare and play well against a committed Chile team.
“As we head to the next round, it is only right that I once again pay tribute to our excellent supporters who I know will be right behind us in Lille this weekend.”
After last Sunday’s headed assist from Joe Marler for the Courtney Lawes try versus Japan, England stepped up heading practice at Tuesday training in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage #RWC2023 #EnglandRugby #ENGvCHI pic.twitter.com/lVmON8IPEZ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 19, 2023
England (vs Chile, Saturday – 5:45pm local time, Lille)
15. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 26 caps)
14. Henry Arundell (Racing 92, 8 caps)
13. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 61 caps)
12. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 16 caps)
11. Max Malins (Bristol Bears, 21 caps)
10. Owen Farrell – captain (Saracens, 107 caps)
9. Danny Care (Harlequins, 91 caps)
1. Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 3 caps)
2. Theo Dan (Saracens, 5 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 64 caps)
4. David Ribbans (Toulon, 8 caps)
5. George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 5 caps)
6. Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 23 caps)
7. Jack Willis (Toulouse, 13 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 71 caps)
Replacements:
16. Jack Walker (Harlequins, 4 caps)
17. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 84 caps)
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 31 caps)
19. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 13 caps)
20. Ben Earl (Saracens, 20 caps)
21. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 125 caps)
22. George Ford – vice-captain (Sale Sharks, 87 caps)
23. Joe Marchant (Stade Francais, 21 caps)
Great to see a fresh team .
However. Will the dreaded borthwick limited tactic of just boot the ball upfield restrain this team of runners . Its now or never to find out if borthwick is listening to the whole rugby world .
And i am sure farrell will want to run too after all the flak he has taken .
England by a distance .
Odd that Smith is given the fullback role over Arundell, but I suppose with 3 fly halves finding something for all of them to do is testing!!.
It's obvious that Smith isn't ever going to get a starting spot at fly half whilst farrell & Ford are in the team.
Nice to see Daly in his actual proper position at 13 though.
Be interesting to see if care can add some zip from 9.
Disagree with you about Daly! Ronan O'Gara made the point a few years ago that Daly looks like the sort of player who benefits from time on the ball, which you get playing 13 at club level but not at international. I think he'll tear it up against Chile, but I really wouldn't trust him at 13 against a tier 1 nation.
In terms of Smith v Arundell, Arundell's biggest weakness at 15 is his kicking game. I think that's a big issue and something he'll have to improve significantly before being given an international start there. Smith's biggest issue would presumably be his defensive positioning, given that he's never started there before in his entire life. I would guess that Arundell will be given time in training to develop his kicking, whereas Smith needs game time in order to be effective.
If this was a knockout game but Borthwick was somehow required to select this XV of players, I assume he would move Malins to 15, Daly to 11, Lawrence to 13, Farrell to 12, and Smith to 10. But I also assume that he forsees the possibility that in a knockout game, Smith and Ford might be on the pitch at the same time, necessitating Smith to be able to defend at 15.