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Steve Borthwick teases England selection and has message for 'the bench'
By PA
Steve Borthwick will demand more from his bench as he looks to transform England into a side capable of winning tight matches in the upcoming Guinness Six Nations.
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England collapsed to narrow late defeats against France and Australia, and three times against New Zealand, in a disappointing 2024 that produced only five wins in 12 Tests.
That record that has placed Borthwick under pressure heading into the opener against Ireland in Dublin on February 1 and the head coach has been devising ways to ensure his team come on strong in the final quarter.
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England’s replacements made little contribution throughout a disappointing autumn and an improvement will be sought when they join the action in the Six Nations.
“Clearly the message is that we’re doing a lot of things really well because we’re playing against very good teams and getting into winning positions,” Borthwick said.
“So the challenge I give to this team is to start the games even faster and play even harder through that first part. And the next part is the impact we have from the bench.
“I’ll be challenging the players about that impact that each of them brings to add to the intensity of the game at whatever time they enter the game.”
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Borthwick also wants his players to be bold in the closing stages by giving the pass when it is on having detected a hesitation to take the ambitious option last year.
Marcus Smith was first-choice fly-half for 2024 but he is facing competition for the jersey from Fin Smith and could be deployed at full-back where his threat in broken play has a natural home.
Borthwick believes that while Smith’s height of 5’9” counts against him as an option at 15, his running skills offer a value weapon later in matches.
“When the game opens up and is more unstructured, that’s where a player of Marcus’ strength can really take advantage of the space when there is fatigue in players’ legs,” he said.
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Freddie Stewart is favourite to benefit from George Furbank’s broken arm and seize the full-back duties but the aerial master has also emerged as an option on the wing.
“It’s something I would consider, especially in the contestable game,” Borthwick said.
“Freddie’s carrying work has been very good. He was challenged a good period ago to develop pace and he’s gone away and worked at that. He’s got faster and improved his pace, so I think Fred on the wing is certainly a possibility.
“You start looking at Marcus and where he starts, his versatility, Freddie’s versatility, Elliot Daley’s versatility. I like players who have got the ability to move positions.”
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Well.
Until we see the team selection it's all conjecture.
However.
It does not bode well with SB continually picking favourites .
Leics lost by 80 today and Steward had a stinker against rapid players turning him .
Yes he is a good player but not at international level. Same with JVP .
Ben Spencer far better but not a Leics player so is out .
Fin Smith one for the future but 20 mins against a very tired and beaten Japan is no guide .On the bench with Marcus 10 .
Just press noise to me .
Daly is messed about and far better than he has shown .
England desparatly need a settled side and hopefully SB will keep the faith with the starting 15 throughout .
We will do better than most think .
3rd .
So he is thinking about putting Daly, a centre, on the wing with Steward, a fullback who has been smoked for pace on countless occasions at test level on the other wing, and Marcus Smith, who is not and never will be a fullback, at fullback. Terrific.
Yes, sounds like it. On the upside a disastrous 6N, while painful, could result in a change of coach. All the RFU need to do to afford that cost is slightly tone down their Exec bonuses. Which are meant to be performance linked in any case...
Smith at fullback for the dying 20 I don't mind if we're chasing the game but he should never start a test match at 15 unless it's a dead rubber. Smith deserves to start at ten, he was our best player in the autumn internationals, but I would like to see Fin start one of the games or at least be given a full second half against Wales or Italy.
We can't keep picking Steward, we need to give some other fullbacks test exposure. He's just too slow and it's a huge liability.
Daly in his prime did a decent impression of a winger but we have plenty of good wingers in this country, we don't need to put a 32 year old centre on the wing. Unfortunately Borthwick's idea of a back 3 is just pick whoever is best in the air.