3. DANNY CARE GETS SET TO BECOME A CENTURION
Battle-tested halfback Danny Care has been named amongst the England replacements, and is eyeing up the opportunity to make his 100th test cap for his country. Alex Mitchell returns to the starting spot following his brief injury hiatus, that saw him miss out on the third round defeat to Scotland.
Jamie George and Steve Borthwick discussed how Danny Care was bestowed with a unique presentation earlier this week, as he gets set to break into triple figures for England. The Harlequin was presented with his original scouting report from when he was a young player, that Borthwick obtained during the recent England open training session in York.
JAMIE GEORGE: “There’s nothing he hasn’t already said himself (about himself). I’m incredibly proud of him as a mate. We’re very close and he’s had to work very hard to get to this milestone. He’s been in and around this team a long, long time. He made his professional debut in 2003, which shocked me today when I heard about it. We did bit of a presentation for him.
“What an incredible guy, what ana amazing players. He’s someone who has done incredible things for this English team a long, long time now. He deserves this moment and hopefully we can make it a special day for him.
STEVE BORTHWICK: “We were in York last week for an open session. Somebody handed to Richard Wigglesworth the national academy report for Danny Care when he was with the Under-18s. It was a genuine hand-written report. It said that he needed to work on his defence and needed more time in the gym to get a bit bigger!
“This was presented to him this morning. It also said for a player a player who will play for England many times. He’s done so so well for many years and he’s such an incredible influence around this squad now. We’re very fortunate that we have him.”
4. GEORGE FURBANK RETAINS HIS PLACE WITH NO SPACE FOR FREDDIE STEWARD
Borthwick has also named George Furbank at fullback, with the Northampton Saints man once again preferred over Freddie Steward. There is once again no space for the Leicester Tigers man in the match day 23, as Furbank has again been preferred after he opened up the scoring against Scotland. Speaking on the selection to keep Furbank in the squad, Borthwick said;
STEVE BORTHWICK: “Again, I consider one of the factors being continuity in selection. I think George is a player who has played really well all season. And I think you saw aspects within that game where, he was bringing all his talent onto that pitch. And you see him, the way he carried the ball back.
“The way, there was was one moment there where he gave an offload. And he went to ground, and the, crucial thing I went, was it the right decision to give an offload? I thought it absolutely was, just, we weren’t reading it off him.
“And part of that is, players spending planning time playing together, understanding when a player is going to make an offload, when a player is going to do something. That’s come from spending time together, playing together and understanding each other that bit more.”