And so it is official, Steve Borthwick has left his role with Leicester Tigers to become England’s new head coach, with Kevin Sinfield coming with him. Borthwick now has just a handful of weeks until the Six Nations, and then only a couple of matches after that before he must name his squad for the Rugby World Cup.
But who will Borthwick pick? While it is hard to imagine him making wholesale changes to the suad so close to the tournament, every head coach will have some players that they will feel can do the job for them—as we saw consistently with Eddie Jones leaving out many of the form English players despite every fan and pundit calling for their inclusion. So who has found themselves surplus to Eddie Jones’ needs who could find themselves now getting a chance under Borthwick? Today I will be looking at some of the options.
Ollie Lawrence
Let’s start with the obvious one. England have been far too reliant on Manu Tuilagi under Jones, especially considering how often he is injured, while the great promise of the Smith/Farrell/Tuilagi midfield was an absolute dud when finally used this autumn. Meanwhile Ollie Lawrence was almost single-handedly winning games for Bath. A wrecking ball with great hands in attack, he has also been a big factor in defence, and has been key to Bath’s revival and arguably one of the best players in the Premiership this season.
Joe Marler
An experienced loosehead and specialist scrummager, Marler hasn’t featured for England since Autumn 2021, with Mako Vunipola coming back into consideration as backup to Ellis Genge. Well, that resulted in the England scrum being pushed back by New Zealand and folded in on itself by the Springboks. With a strong scrum key to beating the top teams and an immediate improvement needed, the return of Marler through to the end of the Rugby World Cup seems an obvious selection.
George McGuigan
One of the most consistent try scorers in recent Premiership Rugby seasons, McGuigan has always been a solid all-rounder, but for some reason found himself behind a number of younger options including his own Newcastle back-up Jamie Blamire in the England pecking order under Jones. Should arguably be one of the top 3 hookers for England, and with Luke Cowan-Dickie’s torpedo dives at players’ knees just asking for him to suffer a concussion, an argument could easily be made for McGuigan to become a regular in the 23.
George Ford
With Owen Farrell the long-term incumbent at 10 and Marcus Smith the hot young prospect who has come into the XV, George Ford has somewhat fell by the wayside. I will be the first to admit that his previous times with England have not wholly impressed me, but Borthwick found a way to get the best out of him for Leicester last year, so could be tempted to bring in another experienced playmaker that he is familiar with, especially when Farrell is able to play outside him at 12.
Ollie Hassell-Collins & Cadan Murley
A pair of impressive young players who have quietly gone about their business to become 2 of the most deadly try scorers in the Premiership, both have found themselves frequently overlooked in favour of inexperienced viral sensation Henry Arundell. With and 7 league tries respectively, and both over 200 metres made and in double digits for players beaten in the Premiership this year, if Borthwick chooses to play style of rugby that involves more attacking through the backs, he will surely be hoping that they can follow in the footsteps of recent new internationals Rio Dyer and Mark Nawaqanitawase.
Alex Dombrandt
One of the most impressive English back rows in recent years (which considering the depth of options available to England is saying something!) Dombrandt was never able to secure a spot under Eddie Jones and fell back behind Billy Vunipola, who looked a shadow of himself at Test level. With Borthwick coming in and surely looking to create a more dominant pack and an attack with more carrying options, Dombrandt has the chance to try securing the shirt ahead of Zach Mercer’s return to England.
Anthony Watson
Formerly a regular on the wing under Jones, injury robbed Watson of almost all of last season, and appears to have seen him fall down the pecking order in that time. However, having moved to Leicester, nobody will know better than Borthwick just what he is capable of, while he also provides cover across the back 3. And with Jonny May not looking at his best this season following a second half of the year disrupted by COVID and injury, could Watson come in as a direct replacement for the Gloucester wing?
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