'Freddie Steward dropped' - Makers and Breakers: England team to play France in Six Nations

We've picked out our makers and breakers from this past week, as England underwent their training preparations at their Surrey home of Pennyhill Park. Here are the five who made the grade, and five who will be left heart-broken, with the battle lines drawn for the 2025 edition of Le Crunch.

The name that immediately jumps out from the starting XV is Fin Smith, who has been named for his first England start by head coach Borthwick. Smith will lead the line at fly half, and take over the control of the back-line for his Harlequins namesake Marcus Smith. This will be Fin Smith's seventh Test cap, with plenty of hope and expectation that the Northampton man can bring a breath of fresh air to England's attack.

Whilst Marcus Smith has missed out on his continued ownership of the England 10 shirt, the Harlequin has not been forced out of the starting line-up. In a move that was first introduced in England's 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign, Smith returns to start at fullback for only the fifth time in his career, with Borthwick excited to see how both Smiths influence the England attacking line. It's a big ask for the Quins man to adapt ahead of Le Crunch, with Thomas Ramos expected to send some spiral bombs into the Allianz Stadium back-field.

After missing out on the opening round trip to Dublin, Ollie Sleightholme rallied back from his Irish omission for a place back in Steve Borthwick's plans. Sleightholme slots in back upon the left wing, after Cadan Murley sustained an injury in his try-scoring England debut in the Aviva Stadium. The Northampton Saints man also gets the nod ahead of Freddie Steward, despite plenty of expectation that the fullback would take up the mantle out on the wing with Smith in the 15 shirt.

Despite the return of Jamie George to the England camp, there has been no shifting Luke Cowan-Dickie from being the first choice hooker. George had been away from the England environment with a leg injury, yet returned ahead of the France Test week with the assumption being of his return to the two shirt. However, Cowan-Dickie's contributions in Dublin have certainly gone noticed, as he surpasses his former England skipper to start in the front row this Saturday.

After taking a seat amongst the replacements for the opening round trip to Dublin, Tom Willis has gone one better this week as he's named to start in the back row. Willis is set for only his second England start, and his third cap overall, with Borthwick set to unleash a long-requested Saracens tactic with Ben Earl on the flank. Willis was a like-for-like number eight replacement against Ireland, with his impact seemingly un-ignorable as he earns a starting spot.

It's a tough break for Freddie Steward, as after starting the opening round of the Six Nations, there is no place in the match day squad this time around. The Leicester Tigers fullback has foregone his place in the 15 shirt to Marcus Smith, thanks to the butterfly effect from Fin Smith taking the lead at 10. There was a lot of expectation that Steward would start on the wing, yet the flyer has been surpassed by both Sleightholme and Elliot Daly to the match day squad.

Once again, George Ford misses out on a place in an England match day 23, with the fly half surpassing his second consecutive round in the Six Nations. The Sale Sharks man will have to watch on from the stands as Fin Smith leads the line, for the first time in the career of the 22-year-old. Ford will likely be imparting plenty of wisdom upon the emerging England halfback, in what is a momentous day for the future of the England 10 shirt.

Similarly to Ford, Ben Spencer will once again miss out on the match day squad, with Alex Mitchell and Harry Randall preferred in the eyes of Steve Borthwick. The Bath man was leading the conversation in the absence of Mitchell this past Autumn, yet following the Saints man's comeback Spencer has taken a knock in the pecking order. Harry Randall takes up the 22 shirt on the bench, with the 6-2 split only finding space for the Bristol Bears man and Saracens Swiss-army knife Elliot Daly.

An anomaly in the sense that George is the sole 'breaker' that has a place in the match day 23, yet the former England captain has come back into the playing squad in a replacement role. There has been no ignoring the strength of Luke Cowan-Dickie's recent England performances, with George having to settle for the 16 shirt since returning to camp following a leg injury. Whilst it is good for George to be back in the squad, the former England captain would have hoped to return to the starting front row.

Borthwick's selection butterfly effect had a knock on to Theo Dan, with the hooker out of the match day squad following the return of Jamie George. The Saracens man had long been the go to number 16 when George was skippering the side, yet the impressive form from Cowan-Dickie disrupted Dan's cap count throughout the latest Autumn Nations Series. It's the harsh truth of the Test match stage, with Borthwick pulling no punches from his squad to take on Les Bleus.