We are closing in on the final weekend of the 2024 Six Nations, and England find themselves in a previously unexpected position. Fate is not entirely in the hands of Steve Borthwick’s men, yet a win against France in the fifth round, could be enough to claim the Championship, should other results go in their favour.
England have battled to be in this position, and come into the match against Les Bleus off the back of a monumental victory over Ireland. The exhilarating contest was decided in the final play of the match, as Marcus Smith put boot to ball for a match-winning drop goal that secured the 23-22 score-line, and sent Twickenham into a frenzy.
The roof erupted off the stadium known as ‘HQ’, as the heavily favoured Irish were felled, and had their ambitions of back-to-back Grand Slams nullified by England.
Now, Ireland are still the masters of their own destiny, as Andy Farrell’s men take on Scotland, in the second match of ‘Super Saturday’. A win for Ireland would be enough to seal the Six Nations title, given their previous bonus point wins against Italy, Wales and France. However, should Gregor Townsend’s Scots achieve an underdog victory, then it opens up the playing field for the final match of the tournament.
2024 SIX NATIONS: SUPER SATURDAY FIXTURES (16th MARCH 2024)
WALES VS ITALY (14:15 KO, CARDIFF)
IRELAND VS SCOTLAND (16:45 KO, DUBLIN)
FRANCE VS ENGLAND (20:00 KO, LYON)
France vs England could well decide the winner of the entire competition, and Steve Borthwick will be looking to select his strongest side for the battle with Les Bleus. England are set to host a media event tomorrow, which will clear up the eligibility for the players that picked up injuries in the win against Ireland. So, with the match day squad set to be confirmed on Thursday, we have once again made our predictions as to who the England head coach will pick for the match.
Here is our predictions for the England side that Steve Borthwick will select, for the 2024 Six Nations finale against France.
BACK THREE
15. George Furbank (Northampton Saints)
14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)*
11. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Steve Borthwick looks to have found his trio of talents for the back-three, as George Furbank, Tommy Freeman and Manny Feyi-Waboso were all in stunning form against Ireland. We expect to see an unchanged back three, yet have planted an asterisk next to Tommy Freeman after the Northampton man received brief medical treatment in the latter stages at Twickenham.
Beginning with Furbank, the Saints man has made a blistering return to the England set-up and we expect to see him retain his starting spot at fullback. Prior to being called-up by Borthwick, Furbank’s international hiatus dated back to England’s 2022 Six Nations defeat to France, with the 27-year-old now searching for redemption against Fabien Galthie’s side this weekend.
Furbank marked his England return with a try in the early goings against Scotland, before he then added a pivotal try to close the gap on Ireland. A stunning fullback in brilliant form, it took a lot to supersede Freddie Steward, but Furbank looks to have the answers for the time being. Moving on to his Northampton teammate, and should Tommy Freeman be able to shake off the heavy knock he took against Ireland, we can see no replacement for the wing for the Six Nations’ curtain caller.
Should Freeman be ruled out, we expect to see Elliot Daly make a return to the starting team and shuffle the deck to put Manny Feyi-Waboso on the right wing. There can be no replacing the Exeter Chiefs man, as Feyi-Waboso ran out a brilliant showing in his first England start. Having balanced a crucial medicine exam on the run up to the match, Feyi-Waboso impressed all onlookers with a clinic of attacking rugby, and schooled the Irish defenders with some neat footwork upon the wide channels.
CENTRES
13. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby)
12. Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)*
We move on to an area of contemplation for Borthwick this weekend, after resident outside centre Henry Slade was withdrawn from the Ireland match after aggravating an injury. There is no denying the Exeter chemistry that Slade brings Feyi-Waboso upon the 13-14 defensive axis, yet Borthwick may have to deploy a new tactic if his go-to midfielder is out of the fray for France.
The England head coach spoke after the match about Slade’s injury and why the playmaker was pulled out of the action; “I haven’t had a medical report. Sladey (Henry Slade) took a bang in Scotland and worked really hard to recover from it and took a knock today. I don’t know if it’s related and that’s why he came off.”
Should Slade fail to return, we predict to see Fraser Dingwall re-take the 12 jersey, and push Ollie Lawrence along to outside centre. Dingwall started at inside centre for England’s two wins against Italy and Wales, yet has not featured in Borthwick’s plans since the return of Lawrence, who was preferred to take on Scotland. Lawrence has plentiful experience of covering at 13, having started in the shirt for Bath this season, and played in the position against Fiji ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
Lawrence returned to his top form, after a rocky performance in the defeat to Scotland. The centre crossed over for a try against Ireland, and could well have had a second on the score-board, had it not been for the earlier knock-on from Furbank. The Manu Tuilagi debate then emerges once again, yet the Sale Sharks man has not been selected throughout the entire tournament, despite reports that he is in fact fully fit for contention, which raises questions on whether Borthwick really has any plans for the centre.