Steve Borthwick will be forced into another midfield reshuffle for England’s final match of the Six Nations against Ireland on Saturday with Ollie Lawrence ruled out with a hamstring injury. Owen Farrell and Manu Tuilagi both offer Borthwick contrasting alternatives as the head coach wrestles with how to bounce back from the record home defeat by France.
Lawrence has started the last three matches at inside-centre but sustained the injury in Saturday’s humiliating defeat by France and was not named in Borthwick’s 36-man squad on Monday. Tuilagi is available again, however, following his suspension and could feature under Borthwick for the first time after the head coach lamented England’s lack of power against the physically dominant French. Time and again England lost the gainline battle and though Tuilagi has been sidelined through suspension for the last three weeks he can offer a carrying threat few others can.
Tuilagi was one of the first big casualties of Borthwick’s reign after he was dropped for the defeat by Scotland. The 31-year-old was Eddie Jones’s go-to man to bring midfield presence whenever he was fit but Borthwick signalled a changing of the guard by turning to the in-form Lawrence. Tuilagi, however, has stayed with the squad despite the suspension he then picked up on club duty. He is hugely popular with his team-mates and on his day can provide what Borthwick believes is missing.
“What was clear is there is no doubt in the contact area, both in attack and in defence, their power told,” said Borthwick after the record loss to France. “Our ability to win the gainline and generate quick ball in attack was very limited, and our ability to stop them on the gainline, in defence, and not allow them to offload was also not of the standard we needed to be. We’ll have to look at what we could do differently.”
The alternatives for Borthwick include restoring Farrell to the inside-centre berth. The captain started as a replacement against France with Marcus Smith at outhalf tasked with running a more expansive gameplan. In terrible conditions and in the face of French dominance, he failed to ignite any sort of attacking cohesion, however. England’s solitary try came shortly after Farrell came on for Henry Slade and though Borthwick has not been as keen on the Smith-Farrell axis as Jones, it could get another run out in Dublin.
George Ford is also part of the squad after playing 80 minutes for Sale on Saturday and comes into the equation as another option. His kicking variety would have been a valuable asset for England on Saturday and Borthwick may be tempted to reunite the Ford-Farrell axis for the first time in two years. Guy Porter has also been called up by Borthwick in place of Lawrence and provides another possibility, as does Joe Marchant who started England’s opening Six Nations match against Scotland.
Elsewhere, the Harlequins tighthead prop Will Collier is included with no place for Leicester Joe Heyes. Collier has two caps – both won on the 2017 tour of Argentina – and though he started the dismal defeat by the Barbarians last summer, he has not made a full Test appearance since. A highly rated scrummager, however, Collier adds ballast to a position in which England do not possess depth. The Exeter lock Jonny Hill – who was briefly called upon for training last week when Courtney Lawes was ruled out – has been included, as has the London Irish wing Ollie Hassell-Collins. There is, however, no place for Sam Simmonds. – Guardian
