England: Nick Easter’s five takeaways from Steve Borthwick’s squad including the perplexing omissions and ‘balancing acts’
Nick Easter's five takeaways from Steve Borthwick's squad and picks his matchday 23.
Following the announcement of Steve Borthwick’s 36-man England squad for the Autumn Nations Series, ex-number eight Nick Easter gives us his five takeaways.
The former forward unpacks the squad and omissions as the national team prepares to face New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on November 2 and predicts the matchday 23.
Balancing act
“I realise there’s a few voices surprised at some of the England elder statesman retained in the squad – the likes of Elliot Daly, Joe Marler, Dan Cole and Henry Slade. But selecting Test teams is always about a balancing act of proven international performers against form players and it’s clear that Borthwick has, wisely in my opinion, ensured that he has touchpoints of big Tests in every unit of the team,” Easter said.
“Having cap centurions like Cole working with Trevor Davison, or Marler working with Ellis Genge and Fin Baxter is absolutely key to problem solving and development, so I fully understand why they’re in. Old heads accelerate growth and they’re there to do precisely that.
“However, by saying that, I am starting to wonder if England are creating a problem for themselves in the hooker berth as Jamie George, a fine servant for England, retains the captaincy when there’s probably two better hookers in the squad in terms of mobility and form.
“Henry Slade is there to continue to lead the defensive line – which again creates another issue as England simply must find a way of playing Ollie Lawrence, their most potent attacking weapon off phase play, into the 13 shirt. Slade’s pass completion for England was below 50% last season and that’s a concern. Rumours abound that one of the reasons Felix Jones is parting company with England is due to the defensive errors in New Zealand, so it will be interesting to see how Slade leads the new systems under Joe El-Abd.”
Form picks and omissions
“On the form pick front, we see Alex Lozowski, Luke Northmore, Ben Spencer, Tom Roebuck and Jack van Poortvliet come in on the back of impressive displays in the Premiership,” the ex-England eight continued.
“I am all for the inclusion of those players, but a big question mark for me is why Lennox Anyanwu, Will Butt and Gabriel Ibitoye haven’t been considered? In the case of Aynanwu and Butt, they’re the 12s that might enable Lawrence to move to his more favoured 13. And, whilst it was a bit of a cliched tag, I do think the two young tightheads, Afo Fasogbon and Asher Opoku-Fordjour, might have benefitted from time in squad in that ‘apprentice role’ that Eddie Jones coined.
“Trevor Davison is an outstanding selection though – he is a high-quality scrummager who has taken apart a few Test looseheads in his time. His power and fight will help England enormously, but he needs mobility alongside him in the scrum to balance out a drop-off in carrying power over and above the likes of Will Stuart, who is much maligned in terms of his game with ball in hand.”
Half-back injuries costly
“England will miss Alex Mitchell more than many have recognised,” Easter explained.
“He has been the heartbeat of England’s improvement over the last 12 months and the drop off in Saints form since his injury just underlines his influence.
“If you then couple his absence with George Ford’s injury issues, there’s a real concern that the engine that drove England forward in the World Cup and the Six Nations is no longer there.
“Assuming that Borthwick continues with Marcus Smith at ten – I certainly would – that really opens the door for Ben Spencer alongside him. ‘Spen’ is used to playing with an expansive ten in Finn Russell and the Bath man’s ability with boot from the base will take a lot of exits and tactical kicking pressure away from Smith – whilst also offering a very reliable goal-kicking option. Smith and Spencer offer the best combination, especially knowing you’ve got Harry Randall on the bench to up the tempo if required.
“But don’t overlook how big the absence of Ford and Mitchell is – they were the men who really powered England’s strategy last season and they leave massive boots to fill.”
Back-row concerns
“If you look around Test rugby right now, we’re in the era of behemoth back-rowers,” Easter said.
“The Springboks have Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ben-Jason Dixon, plus a few more waiting in the wings. Argentina have Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera and Juan Martin Gonzalez, all well above 115kgs and 6’5”, giving huge carrying momentum and equally effective stopping power on the gain-line, whilst France have Charles Ollivon, Gregory Alldritt, Francois Cros and Anthony Jelonch, all incredible athletes with rounded skillsets.
“When we had Courtney Lawes adding balance at six, everything was rosy, but his boots are the biggest of all to fill. It’s for that reason that I simply cannot understand how Tom Willis and Ted Hill are omitted from the squad, yet four players, Sam Underhill, Ben and Tom Curry, and Ben Earl, all of whom offer something similar on the flank, are picked. Earl aside, as I see him as a key man at eight, using that age-old cricket analogy, it’s a case of being able to change the bowlers but not the type of bowling.
“Alex Dombrandt is at his best in looser matches and might work well against New Zealand but against the power-based sides he’s shown he is short of Test match power and I’d have taken Ted Hill, a really brilliant athlete who scores tries for fun like Ollivon and Gonzalez, to see if he has the Test match smarts and hardness needed for a long term England career.
“These selections place a lot of pressure on Ollie Chessum who undoubtedly will play on the blindside, which isn’t ideal. I personally would have loved to see Willis or Hill there as a big brawny support act to the established players like Earl, Tom Curry and Underhill.”
Likely selections
“Tests against New Zealand are often a lot more open and free handling than against other top Tier One sides, I recall noticing how much time we had with ball in hand when I played against them, a testament to their willingness to play, as they would say, running footy,” Easter continued.
“England have a very exciting backline provided the centres can maintain continuity. I particularly like the balance of the big aerial challenger and the open-field runner and in Tommy Freeman and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso on the wings, which gives a target for kick chases, but, with Furbank likely to be at 15, a real counter-attack should the opposition over kick in exit.
“I see the pack as a balance – props need to have an anchor and a carrier, so it’s hard to see Cole and Marler starting together, or Genge and Stuart combining.
“At halfback, I’ve stated my reasons for wanting the balance of Smith and Spencer so all things considered here’s my 23 for the New Zealand match, assuming all fit.”
Nick Easter’s England team for November: 15 George Furbank, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Wabaso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Tom Roebuck
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