England’s players want Steve Borthwick to stay? Prove it

Steve Borthwick, Head Coach of England, overlooks a scrum during a training session at Pennyhill Park
Steve Borthwick needs his players to produce a strong performance against Japan - Getty Images/Dan Mullan

What sort of England team will turn up against Japan? Steve Borthwick could not have been more emphatic in his selection, at least. In making just two changes to the side to face Eddie Jones’s team, with the return of senior players George Furbank and Tom Curry to the starting XV, the England head coach has given a ringing endorsement of the squad who somehow find themselves searching for a first win in six Tests.

This was never going to be an autumn of experimentation for Borthwick. The England head coach had already made his transitional moves at the start of the year, post-World Cup. When Asher Opoku-Fordjour makes his eagerly awaited debut from the bench, the 20-year-old Sale Sharks prop will be the ninth debutant of the year under Borthwick. With a promising showing he is expected to be in strong contention for a place in the match-day squad for the Six Nations.

No, since the end of this year’s Six Nations, Borthwick committed to consistency in selection to improve the side’s cohesion. Yet his decision to recall Curry just two weeks after he was knocked out against Australia – even if the Sale Sharks flanker has passed the concussion protocols and undergone independent specialist consultations – and make only minimal changes to his 23 for England’s fourth Test of the autumn is also an indication of the pressure to deliver not just a result, but an irresistible performance.

A victory of any sort will end the unwelcome losing streak, but England are expected to win comfortably. What is under scrutiny is the manner of their victory. Finishing a calendar year with five wins from 12 Tests, the same record that led to the sacking of his predecessor Jones, is suboptimal to say the least. If England prevail at Twickenham, two of those five victories will have come against Japan, with only the victory over Ireland in March a stand-out win.

Too reliant on genius of Marcus Smith

Given that context, it is critical that England’s performance is a convincing one in order to give their long-suffering supporters something to cling on to ahead of the Six Nations, which open with a bang against Ireland in Dublin and France at Twickenham. We have seen moments of brilliant attacking rugby, but they have been too fleeting and too often reliant on the individual genius of Marcus Smith.

England’s defence have made some heavy hits, but too often have been exposed when the game was on the line. The relentlessness of the blitz defence has tested England’s endurance, too, leaving question marks about whether they are fit enough to implement it for 80 minutes and also without undermining their attacking plans.

England have declared their intention to meet head-on what is expected to be a high-tempo attacking game by Japan, signalled by the inclusion of Curry as effectively a third openside flanker in the back row along with Sam Underhill and Ben Earl.

Furbank’s return at full-back also underscores this intention. Freddie Steward was mostly impressive against the Springboks, but England are not expecting the same aerial contest for the ball. Furbank will bring a third pair of eyes to England’s attack and can step in as a third first receiver when required. If England are going to fight fire with fire, they must do so with utter conviction.

With Opoku-Fordjour and Chandler Cunningham-South on the bench, there is a formidable physical presence among the reserves and it will be fascinating to see if Fin Smith is given significant game time at fly-half and if Marcus Smith switches to full-back if he comes on.

Time to show progress has been made

After falling short in the final reckoning of each of their past five Tests, this is the moment for the players to step up. They have all, to a man, voiced their support for Borthwick and his coaching team, but this has to be the occasion when they match their words with their deeds.

The pack is averaging 55 caps per player while Marcus Smith (38), Henry Slade (68) and Ollie Lawrence (30) bring experience to the back line.

This is their moment in the final week of the campaign to demonstrate the progress that has been made, and that the lessons have been learnt from the mistakes that have allowed the last five results to slip from their grasp.

“We haven’t been able to nail it in the final 10 or 15 minutes, or in the case of the New Zealand game and the Australia game, nail it in the final 30 seconds,” Borthwick said. “There’s disappointment there.

“This is a team that’s playing good rugby, this is a team that’s got a good skill set, that wants to move the ball and is capable of scoring good tries, which is a little bit different from where we were and where we’ve been in the past. That’s the kind of messages I’m getting and that’s the sentiment I’m getting from the supporters.”

It is time for the real England team to stand up.