England head coach Steve Borthwick has named his squad, to take on Ireland in the fourth round of the 2024 Six Nations. Borthwick and England captain Jamie George held a press conference today, at the team’s training camp in Surrey. There were plenty of talking points from the conference, with players returning to the squad in time for the clash with Ireland.
Borthwick opened up the session by discussing his returning players, as a duo of halfbacks are eagerly anticipating their comeback to England action. Speaking on the returns of Alex Mitchell (knee injury) and Marcus Smith (calf injury), Borthwick also shone light on Fin Smith, who unfortunately missed out with a calf injury of his own.
“The squad today, everyone was available and in contention for selection. It’s great to Marcus’ return to fitness and Mitch’s. They were available for selection this week. Fin Smith took a knock in the Scotland game but trained fully today. That was his day back training today.”
5 TALKING POINTS: STEVE BORTHWICK AND JAMIE GEORGE PRESS CONFERENCE PRE-IRELAND 2024 SIX NATIONS
1. MANNY FEYI-WABOSO GETS HIS FIRST ENGLAND START
An early area of discussion for Steve Borthwick, was his decision to name Manny Feyi-Waboso in the starting team for Saturday’s fixture. This will be the first test start for the 21-year-old wing, who was amongst England’s top performers against Scotland in his explosive replacement appearence against Scotland.
Feyi-Waboso has had a rather busy schedule as of late, as he had to depart England’s camp in York to complete a medical exam for his University course at the University of Exeter. Nonetheless, the Exeter Chiefs man continues to impress his coaches and has been dutifully rewarded with his first England start.
STEVE BORTHWICK: “He was full of gratitude. I don’t know how many times he said thank you to me! We’ve seen that with players recently. Theo Dan was another one (playing National League rugby a year ago), a year after playing for Ampthill he was in the World Cup squad. We see these young players with incredible ability and determination.
“Each time you throw a challenge at these players, Manny, Theo, they just relish that challenge and jump right to it. We’ve seen Manny progress brilliantly in this Six Nations. He’s earned this opportunity.”
“The blend of players is important and Manny came on to the field two weeks ago and had incredible impact. He’s a player who wants the ball, wants to carry and wants to get the team over the gain-line.”
JAMIE GEORGE: “He’s ready, he’s more than ready. You’ve seen that in the time he’s had on the field so far in the Six Nations. He’s an incredible talent, but the maturity we’ve seen from Manny is something that’s impressed me a lot.
“His willingness to learn, he’s eager, you’re constantly having to pull him back, but he’s so excited for this opportunity, you can see that, and that energy is infectious throughout the team. And when young guys come in and have an impact like that it’s always very, very impressive.”
2. ENGLAND PLAYERS FELT THE ‘WEIGHT OF THE SHIRT’ IN THE DEFEAT TO SCOTLAND
England suffered their first defeat of the Jamie George captaincy in their latest fixture, as they were handed a 30-21 defeat to Scotland up in Edinburgh. Both George and his head coach Borthwick recognised how the players felt the ‘weight of the shirt’ off the back of the defeat, and were disappointed by the series of errors they made up in Murrayfield.
STEVE BORTHWICK: “Continuity in selection is one very important factor and as we build this team and go forward, it’s an important factor for consideration. We know that against Scotland there were errors. It’s probably the first time in a while I’d seen the weight of the shirt feel heavy on the players.
“We’ve worked around that and to develop that. We made some errors and then as we made the errors, we started playing in a different way. You saw how we intended to play in the way we started. If you start deviating away from the way you want to play, that leads to more errors.
“I’ve made a couple of changes to the team but I believe in these players. I sense a determination in them to put in a performance this weekend and there has been ever since the end of that Scotland game. There was disappointment. A lot of players were disappointed with how they had gone. We all were. And so I sense a determination ever since that final whistle.”