The XV Borthwick has to go for to beat Italy at HQ:

England did not get off to a comfortable start under the Borthwick era. Borthwick’s Leicester regime was based off strong defence, strong set piece, a strong kick chase and repeat.

His England regime did not emulate this.

By Charlie Morgan

England’s defence was poor. The tackle selection was poor, most noticeably following van der Merwe’s score when Dombrandt could have stopped him 10m out, but slipped off him and was left chasing his arms. There were too many holes in defence and too often did England find themselves on the backfoot. The relationship between Owen Farrell and Joe Marchant needs work, too many times there were gaps, which were fully taken advantage of. Kevin Sinfield will be making the men in white wish they never missed a tackle.

England’s set piece was relatively strong. England only conceded penalty at the scrum and this will only improve, especially as veteran Dan Cole is returning to international fitness. The lineout was effective, but choice of jumper was poor on occasion.

Despite Scotland stealing 2 lineouts off England ball (Six Nations Match Stat), England proved effective at the lineout, however too many times England opted to throw to the front jumper, with Chessum taking 9 lineouts..

This meant that the time the ball took to hit the backline, was too long and therefore gave the Scottish defence enough time to prevent an effective first phase attack. Itoje was silent, and was totally outshone by Chessum, on both sides of the ball. England need to vary up their lineout, especially to get the ball in the fly half’s hands as soon as possible. Scotland did this well with their balls over to Tuipolotu and got over the gain line every time. England need to get front foot ball, especially to counteract the slow ruck problems.

The kick chase was poor. Hassell-Collins, perhaps overwhelmed by the occasion was not aggressive enough and the kick chase from England as a defence was too uneven, leaving too much space. One of the first things I was coached in rugby is the kick is as only as good as its chase. Based on that, I didn’t see many good kicks from England. England need to stop kicking too long and they need to be more aligned against Italy. Ange Capuozzo is a very different player to van der Merwe, but can be equally as devastating. England cannot afford to give him as much space.

There were promising signs from England, but unlike recent years, the Azurri are not going to be an easy challenge. They were strong against France, showed good variation in their attack and then stepped on the gas on the 60^th minute, showing they are past the what was almost a certain blip on the hour mark in recent memory. England could well be in trouble.

This is not a game to experiment with selection. This is a must win game.

In the front row “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Genge and Sinckler played their destructive best. Genge was exceptional and Sinckler played the best game in an England shirt for a while. George played the whole 80 on his return from concussion, he looked sharp and will only improve.

Itoje has almost become complacent, perhaps he perceives himself as undroppable? Either way, he was poor and had his most quiet game for England by some margin. I’d go with Chessum and Ribbans. Ribbans has showed his skillset in England colours and will provides the unyielding aggression that Borthwick and Sinfield will be looking for.

Ludlam had a very strong game, overshadowing Ben Curry. Earl looked much more at home than Curry did, perhaps cementing the 7 shirt as his own. The flanker partnership of Ludlam and Ben Earl would be the perfect mix of speed and strength.

Ben Youngs of England, Marcus Smith of England and Owen Farrell, Captian of England sing the national anthem ahead of the Autumn International Series match between England and Japan at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on Saturday 12th November 2022 | Photo: James Fearn/PPAUK.

Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith, the main talking point of selection. England have got to choose 1 fly half and 2 centres. Farrell had glimpses of his class when he stepped up on first receiver, but equally Smith made 112m ball in hand (https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/live_matches/live-england-v-scotland-3/#match-stats) and looked more dangerous as a carrying threat. However, Borthwick won’t be dropping his captain, so Farrell will take the 10 jersey.

My centre partnership would be Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade. Lawrence has the pace and power and defensive brain Borthwick likes, as well as the ability to beat defenders. Slade is a slick distributor and a brave defender and his form prior to his injury will have cemented him as Borthwick’s first choice 13.

The back 3 is rumoured to drop Freddie Steward, despite many people thinking Steward is too 1 dimensional, I believe he is the first choice fullback, but I’d keep him there and put Arundell to the wing – his pace and attacking game giving flashbacks to his destructive England debut in the Summer. Hassell-Collins is a tough call, he didn’t do anything too wrong when he played, but in a must win game, I think Borthwick should go for a more dangerous player.