England team: Winners and losers as Steve Borthwick risks ‘complacency’ while saving powerhouse for ‘bigger battles’
England stars Ellis Genge and Ollie Lawrence.
Following the announcement of Steve Borthwick’s England team to face Scotland at Murrayfield Stadium, here are our winners and losers.
Winners
Steve Borthwick
Just one personnel change has occurred in the matchday 23 with the England head coach welcoming the return of fit-again Fin Smith via the bench while switching the roles of Jamie George, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Maro Itoje and Alex Coles, respectively.
Wales didn’t put up much of a fight in Twickenham last week, and Borthwick’s men duly put their neighbours to the sword, meaning that there was little cause for change. It’s a rarity in the modern era to go back-to-back weekends without any enforced changes, so he can certainly feel fortunate that he is able to do so.
With 13 successive victories on the cards, one thing that Borthwick will be wary of is complacency, which has certainly seeped in when travelling north of the border previously. The tweaks to the starting XV and the bench may be enough to offset that threat, but only time will tell.
Is this England really different from the others before it? We will find out at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Tom Roebuck and Henry Arundell
The temptation to throw Ollie Lawrence back into the starting XV has benefited the men out wide as Tom Roebuck and Henry Arundell retain their positions. A real boost in confidence for the pair.
Roebuck initially missed out on selection for the opener against Wales due to injury but was promoted right into the run-on team after another setback for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. The Sale Sharks flyer made the most of his opportunity against Wales, again proving why the coaching staff backed him in the squad despite the injury that kept him sidelined since November.
The same is true for Arundell, who likely wouldn’t have featured last week had Roebuck and Feyi-Waboso been fit and firing in the build-up to the opening game of the year.
The duo now have the opportunity to really stamp their mark on the starting roles, particularly after Scotland’s troubles under the high ball against Italy last weekend.
Fin Smith
Fit again, selected again. In truth, there was very little evidence to suggest that Marcus Smith was deserving of being dropped, but Fin Smith has been preferred instead.
Marcus does offer an option at full-back, while his namesake is seen as a more out-and-out fly-half. England’s attack revolves around the number 10 running the show, and the Northampton Saints star is obviously seen as more suitably skilled to fulfil that skillset in the event that George Ford cannot finish the match.
The selection is a nod to just how highly rated the Saints pivot is, but it certainly comes with its own risk in a 6-2 split with no specialised cover in the midfield on the bench or in the starting line-up.
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Ellis Genge
Ellis Genge is certainly lucky that he didn’t fall foul of the same fate as his former Leicester Tigers teammate Jasper Wiese, as the England loosehead prop not only avoided a red card but a suspension too.
His headbutt was about as lethal as the Springbok’s during the July international against Italy last year, and the latter was slapped with a four-week ban for his actions.
Wiese would go on to miss the rare clash against the All Blacks at Eden Park, but Genge is far more fortunate as he will trot out onto the Murrayfield grass from minute one.
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Losers
Ollie Lawrence
Lawrence has had a hard time with injuries throughout his career, but when he has been available for selection for Borthwick, he has shone and stamped his authority on the jersey, think the All Blacks last November.
He has impressed so much so that when he was declared fit this week, most assumed that he would be jetted back into the matchday 23, alas, it was not to be as Borthwick has entrusted Freeman in the role.
The reliance on a 6-2 split on the bench means that there is no space for a specialist centre, which obviously counts against Lawrence. We are bound to see the Bath star in action at some point during the Six Nations, and perhaps the staff believe that it’s not paramount for him to be risked against a low-on-confidence Scottish outfit, and he is better off getting fully firing for bigger battles that lie ahead.
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George Furbank and Elliot Daly
Further victims of the POM Squad. It’s certainly a bold call from Borthwick and co. to only include half-back cover as his two backline replacements, especially considering the versatility that George Furbank and Elliot Daly provide.
Daly had influential cameo appearances off the bench last year in the Six Nations, memorably in the win over France, but is struggling to force his way into the mix in 2026.
While the Saracens star would offer options in the centres and outside backs, he couldn’t do the job of Ford at fly-half, but Furbank possibly could. Perhaps not up to the same standard as his clubmate Smith, but few can.
Marcus Smith
How Marcus Smith’s stocks have fallen. The Harlequins playmaker played the final 15 minutes last weekend and managed to rack up a handy 41 running metres during his cameo, beating three defenders in doing so.
He added real energy and a fresh attacking threat in the final quarter of the game so it is certainly a surprise to see him fall out of the 23. It wasn’t too long ago that he was the first choice number 10 for England, then the go-to call at full-back and then the ideal number 23 on the bench. For Scotland, he is deemed as none of those three.
Chandler Cunningham-South
England’s embarrassment of riches in the back-row is on full display with Chandler Cunningham-South snubbed once again despite Borthwick selecting five loose forwards in matchday 23 – that’s without considering that all three of his locks could do a job on the side of the scrum too.
The Quins forward enjoyed a fine run of form in the build-up to the Six Nations, but upsetting the status quo looks to be a nigh-on impossible job at the moment. Tom Curry may have been yellow-carded last week, but there is no denying his quality while Henry Pollock has cemented his place in the POM Squad with his attacking antics. Guy Pepper and Sam Underhill also look immovable at the minute while Ben Earl has been the pick of the lot for a long while now.
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