England team winners and losers: Steve Borthwick ‘rolls dice’ on selection changes, but ‘misses trick’ with forward omission
Ted Hill, Jack van Poortvliet and Freddie Steward are some of the winners and losers this week following Steve Borthwick's selection.
Following Steve Borthwick’s England selection to face South Africa this weekend in their third Autumn Nations Series Test, here are our winners and losers.
Winners
Returning Leicester duo
Borthwick has rolled the dice in his backline and brought back two of his previous Leicester Tigers favourites in Freddie Steward and Jack van Poortvliet. Just over a year ago, the pair would have been two of the first names of Borthwick’s England teamsheet, but now they find themselves needing a big performance if they want to stay in the starting XV moving forward.
Steward was excellent against the Springboks during the World Cup semi-final last year, and his selection yet again makes sense this time around. His skills in the air make him a really valuable weapon, especially with Manie Libbok’s clever kicking game, and with the new laws surrounding the escorts, it’s a good time to throw him back in.
Teammate Van Poortvliet has looked in pretty decent touch for Leicester so far this season, arguably better than his form pre-injury. He is a pretty steady nine, but he also poses much more threat around the breakdown due to his sniping ability. It’s an interesting call though, but will be good to see how he fits into this England attack.
Henry Slade
Exeter Chiefs back Henry Slade is one lucky man this weekend, as he retains his place in the squad despite a poor performance last time out. Yes, he was shifted into 12, but he still missed the most tackles of anyone on the pitch with five and couldn’t generate any fizz into the attack. Slade, both for his and England’s sake, cannot afford another defensive disasterclass against opposite number Damian de Allende this weekend. He has been credited as the leader of the blitz defence, and maybe this time around he will actually defend at 13 fully rather than a mix of both, but either way if he has a repeat of his showing last week he might be spending another spell away from the England squad.
Sale duo
George Ford and Tom Roebuck are certainly winners this week, as both men feature on the bench. Fly-half Ford has been the focal point of a lot of fans’ anger recently, and rather harshly a groan went around Allianz Stadium when they saw he was coming on, but we all know what he can do when on top form. Yes, it’s not been his best autumn, and yes the argument can be made about him still not being fully fit after a lengthy spell out, but this could be the week things piece together for him.
Winger Roebuck has been drafted in to cover the injured Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, and whilst it’s not a like-for-like switch, the Sale man is a classy player. His aerial skills rival those of Steward and Tommy Freeman, and if he comes onto the pitch will only complement the sort of attack England have said they will adopt this weekend.
Sam Underhill
This could be England’s secret weapon against the Boks, as Sam Underhill returns to the squad for the first time since the July tour. Underhill is a proper Test player and has seemingly never had a bad game for England, but this weekend more than ever he will provide a huge boost to the defence. He can make consistent dominant tackles, which is exactly what England have lacked in their defeats to New Zealand and Australia, and against the imposing Springboks pack this will be crucial.
Dan Cole
Another man who is potentially lucky to keep his spot in the side is Dan Cole, who has struggled to get his usual steadiness in the scrum this autumn. He is usually Mr Reliable in the set-piece, but this November has been found wanting by much more aggressive packs, and it’s arguably the main cause of England’s scrum issues late in games.
Whilst he might not be at his usual best, granted he is in the final stages of his career, he did prove everyone wrong in the last outing against South Africa and could easily do so again.
Losers
Ben Spencer
This feels a very harsh call, given he’s not really done much wrong this autumn, but Ben Spencer has been axed entirely from the England 23 this weekend. His combination with Marcus Smith was arguably the reason the Quins 10 was playing so well, and his box-kicking has been the key in getting them moving up the pitch, however, Borthwick has seen fit to cut the Bath skipper in favour of Van Poortvliet. Maybe he wants more threat around the ruck? But otherwise, I can’t really see the justification to drop him.
George Furbank
This again feels a tad harsh, but the change at 15 is just a bit more understandable considering the new laws and the way the Springboks like to play. Furbank also never fully got himself into the games against New Zealand and Australia, and certainly didn’t have the impact he had in the summer, so maybe this is the change Borthwick needed to make to refresh the Northampton man. There is certainly an argument to be made about putting him on the bench, but that might have been the idea if they went for a 6:2 split.
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Alex Lozowski
You felt this weekend was the time to change the midfield partnership, but yet again Alex Lozowski misses out on selection. The Saracens man is a quality player, and would have brought a new dynamic to the attack as he has done at club level this season, but he has still been overlooked. You wonder if he will feature at all against Japan next weekend.
Ted Hill
If not now, when? This could have been the perfect game to deploy Ted Hill, given his all-round game. The Bath flanker is another one who can make consistent dominant tackles around the tight, but he also would have acted as another ball carrier which England desperately need. His sheer speed and athleticism make him a real threat around the park, but he can also carry hard into traffic when needed as well. He would have also been a decent option at the lineout, considering the height the Boks have with Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth and RG Snyman. You feel Borthwick has missed a trick here.
Trevor Davison
Another player who could have come in and made a real difference is Trevor Davison. Will Stuart has performed admirably so far for England this autumn, but as mentioned above the scrum hasn’t functioned at all when Cole has come on the pitch, and Davison would have fixed this issue. He has been the anchor of a dominant Northampton scrum for a good while yet, and you feel he could have held his own against the Boks if called upon.
