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Where can Steve Borthwick find the X-factor players to take England back to the top of the international rankings?
A pessimistic view would be that the Eddie Jones selection circus has buried most of them under a mountain of self-doubt. The optimistic outlook is that world-class players who have the skill, speed, and physical prowess to become world champions – and, equally importantly, the desire and work ethic to get there – will dig their way out.
Borthwick has to start identifying players with this DNA now, use it to lift England into semi-final contention at this World Cup, and then go on to win Six Nations Grand Slams on the way to becoming the second England coach to win the Webb Ellis trophy in 2027.
However, the current reality is that if England went out of the 2023 World Cup at any juncture, whether the pool stage, quarter-finals, or semi-finals, it would be no surprise. After the decline under Jones in the 2021 and 2022 Six Nations, and further slippage under Borthwick in the 2023 campaign, no-one is expecting miracles. This is because there appears to be a malfunction of National Grid proportions in the main supply cable from the England U20s to the senior team.
Georgia’s 40-38 victory over the England U20s in Tbilisi on Thursday seemed to highlight the different trajectories of rugby union in each country. Georgia’s ability to square the two-match series with a landmark first victory after losing 41-36 at the weekend is a clear indicator that England’s ability to produce world champion young talent is waning.
However, to compound the problem of England not being spoilt for choice through its U20 pathway, the quality of selection at Test level by Jones was at times lamentable – and the jury is still out on Borthwick.
There is no nation that squanders or ignores the X-factor talent at its disposal more than England – and Borthwick has to reverse that trend. Until now there has been a refusal by generations of England coaches to back players who break the mould, or often even to promote and then back players who are proven game-changers.
Joe Cokanasiga, at a rapid 6ft 4ins and 17st 9lbs, is a case in point. Cokanasiga has been in the wilderness since Jones unleashed him in 2018, and then, after an early try spree, left him on the sidelines after a knee injury sustained at the 2019 World Cup, until eventually recalling him for the Autumn series just before making his Twickenham exit.
Having rediscovered belatedly that Cokanasiga was what he wanted, Jones picked him against Argentina, and then, despite being one of the few England players to play well in the narrow defeat, dropped him again for the rest of the series.
Since Borthwick took over ‘Big Joe’ has not had a look-in, failing to make the Six Nations roster. How a player of his physical prowess, and rugby ability is surplus to requirements is a travesty. Perhaps his defensive positioning needs some work – if so, then Borthwick and his coaching crew should get to work on it. That way the huge attacking attributes Cokanasiga brings can be utilised to the full by England.
Then there’s Tom Roebuck. The England head coach must move swiftly to ensure that the Sale strike runner is part of England’s World Cup plans, so that he is not poached by Scotland on flimsy birthplace grounds when he has been raised entirely in English rugby.
Roebuck’s try-scoring radar and speed has enabled him to pluck tries out of thin air, and the Scots, who have already lifted a very good English scrum-half in Ben White, should be given no more poaching leeway by England.
Next, Borthwick must make the most of a Saracens side that keeps on giving. For instance, Nick Isiekwe is potentially a world-class lineout forward. A 6ft 7ins athlete with good hands, Isiekwe came through strongly in Saracens title-winning charge, but has never get been given the trust by England that he enjoys at his club, having been capped only eight times.
It is a similar story with Ben Earl, who is capable of filling the space vacated by Sam Underhill. Earl is a dynamo of a flanker who has showcased his high voltage impact for Saracens, but has not been utilised since he fell out of favour with Jones. Borthwick should bring him back into the back row picture pronto.
If he wants a midfield glue-man who is defensively strong, knows Owen Farrell‘s game inside-out, and could be an effective foil for Ollie Lawrence, then Alex Lozowski is another that the England coach should bring in from the cold.
Borthwick says that the name of his game is pace, and if that’s the case then young hooker Theo Dan has a touch of Schalk Brits about him, and did a great job deputising for Jamie George when he was injured early in the Premiership final.
Jamie Blamire is a big, athletic hooker who could do a similar job to the one Dan Sheehan does for Ireland, and he should not be out of sight, or mind, because he is playing in the Premiership basement for Newcastle.
Bolstering a shaky pack is a Borthwick priority. The scrum requires urgent attention, and at loosehead Val Rapava Ruskin is not only a solid scrummager, but a prodigious turn-over machine. The Sale duo of seasoned loose-head Simon McIntyre and tight-head Nick Schonert also showed their worth by getting the better of both the Saracens and Leicester front rows at the scrum.
Another prop worth serious consideration is Billy Walker, who was the starting tight-head in the England U20 team that beat Ireland 45-21 to become Junior world champions in 2016. Walker, 26, has just helped to spearhead Cambridge’s promotion to the Championship, and is a powerful scrummaging force and handy around the field. Given that tight-head has become England’s Achilles’ heel, Borthwick should scrap the Premiership embargo and give Walker a go.
Lastly, if speed is to become Borthwick’s mantra, the change of pace that Raffi Quirke injected into Sale’s game from scrum-half in the last half-hour of their play-off against Leicester, and in the final against Saracens, was different level.
England still have enough X-factor reserves – it is just a question of Steve Borthwick finding a way to bring them into play.
