England team: Winners and losers as Fin Smith gets ‘his turn at the wheel’ while duo miss ‘best chance to impress’

Following the announcement of England’s 23-man squad to face Fiji this weekend, here is our take on the key winners and losers from Steve Borthwick’s selection.

Winners

Alex Coles

The towering Northampton Saints lock was the only forward left on the bench last weekend as the Bomb Squad were deployed, but now he finds himself displacing captain Maro Itoje this weekend.

It’s an unenviable task to compete with the England captain and a British and Irish Lions Test player in Ollie Chessum for a spot in this XV, but Coles is certainly no sympathy starter. He enjoyed a strong summer tour with Borthwick’s side – even with the yellow card in Test One against Los Pumas – starting in all three Tests across the month, and that form has carried on into the PREM as well with some nice showings for Northampton.

This also feels like a real chance to stake a claim for the starting gig more often, especially with George Martin out of the picture, and while Itoje will be a sure bet to come back in to face the All Blacks, a good performance could see Coles don the number five.

Marcus Smith

He might not be in his preferred position, but this is a great chance for Marcus Smith to prove a point back in the starting side.

Rewind back to last year, Smith was the talk of the town, starring at fly-half amid disappointing defeats to the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks. But now, he seems to be chasing the pack to even make the 23.

It’s through no real fault of his own, given he has said outright he prefers to play 10, but the chopping and changing between fly-half and full-back has left him unable to properly nail down a spot in this England side. Now, though, he has that.

M. Smith does seem to fit the blueprint of the Lee Blackett system, and the other selections around him seem to suggest England will look to play more ball-in-hand this weekend, so we could see him heavily involved.

Ollie Lawrence

He’s in this section for two reasons. One, he’s in the starting side after being omitted last time out. Two, he makes his return to Test rugby for the first time since rupturing his Achilles.

Looking at point one, Lawrence’s return to the side could be seen as a way to fix some of the issues last weekend. While Tommy Freeman added some serious strike to the backline, he couldn’t find the killer pass to send Immanuel Feyi-Waboso away down the wing, but Lawrence is used to playing at 13 within both this England side as well as Blackett’s attack, so he should be able to fix those small blips.

Around that, he has also really impressed since his return to action this season, a lot earlier than expected, too, so this feels a good reward for his form to date.

Fin Smith

The battle for the England number 10 shirt has dominated headlines and column inches ahead of the Autumn Nations Series, and now F. Smith has his turn at the wheel.

Smith certainly warrants a go too, given his form for Northampton, but it will also be interesting to see how he gets the most out of England’s attack. There’s no doubt they will look to play more ball-in-hand rugby this weekend, and Smith could be the man to do this.

He already has an existing connection with both Alex Mitchell and Fraser Dingwall at nine and 12, respectively, and their collective desire to play free-flowing rugby could unlock England’s potential.

Asher Opkou-Fordjour

Giving Asher Opoku-Fordjour a runout this weekend is a really smart move from the England boss, with tighthead an area of improving strength. The Sale man has impressed in his Test outings to date, and giving him another hit-out at the highest level is only going to speed up his development.

He could also suit the desire to play more ball-in-hand rugby this weekend, given he also excels in the loose.

Henry Arundell

There was chatter that he would be named in the starting XV this weekend, but while his selection on the bench might seem disappointing in comparison, he is still set to make his return to the England side nonetheless.

Arundell announced himself on the Test stage back in 2022, scoring a try with his very first touch of the ball, and later scored five tries in a single game against Chile in the World Cup, but a stint in France left him ineligible for the England team.

But now, after returning to the PREM with Bath, he’s back in contention. He is such an explosive attacking threat ball-in-hand, and if he can impress this weekend could easily see himself become a regular in the Test side moving forward.

Losers

Demoted starters

Fin Baxter, Jamie George and Itoje all find themselves on the bench this weekend, after starting last weekend.

All three men can feel slightly hard done by to miss out on the run-on group this weekend, given they all impressed in the win over Australia, but with the All Blacks ahead, this does feel like a chance to control minutes and load.

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Around that, having players of their quality, and in Itoje and George’s case experience and leadership, come on in the latter stages could also help blow the game open.

George Ford

While it might be F. Smith’s turn in the starting XV this weekend, Ford can still feel slightly hard done by to miss out this weekend. The Sale man shone on the summer tour and didn’t really put a foot wrong last weekend either, but it seems he loses his spot purely on squad rotation.

He should be right in contention for the All Blacks next weekend.

Tommy Freeman

He’s in the starting XV and returned to his usual position of wing, but Freeman can still feel aggrieved this weekend. He has been vocal about his desire to play 13 more regularly, and while his passing might have been a big talking point about his performance, he was one of England’s biggest attacking weapons in the win over the Wallabies.

Moving positions also means you need more time in that spot, and Fiji felt like a good chance to give him that exposure.

It could very easily have been the plan to play him here prior to Tom Roebuck’s injury in training, but nonetheless, he still finds himself on the wing.

Sam Underhill

England’s back-row is ultra-competitive at the moment, which has only been shown by the omission of Underhill from the 23 entirely. The Bath man gave a good account of himself in the win over Australia, but has just fallen victim to the sheer depth in his positional area.

Unused squad players

Theo Dan and Raffi Quirke, in particular, can feel like they’ve missed their best chance to impress this autumn after not making the 23.

They could still very easily get a shot this November, with two Tests still to play against the All Blacks and Argentina still in wait, but the pair find themselves third in their respective positional depth chart, so this game felt like a good chance for them to come into the side.

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