WE’LL PACK A PUNCH IN LE CRUNCH
Borthwick knows his Red Rose fighters must be at their tactical best to KO the French heavyweights
STEVE BORTHWICK has urged his side to take the next step up and land a knockout punch tomorrow on heavyweight France.
Written off against Ireland last weekend, England made a huge leap forward with their 23-22 win over the Grand Slam chasers, but have to back it up in Lyon.
A victory would make it four wins in the Six Nations for the first time since the Covidafflicted tournament in 2020 and show real signs of progress.
But in round four last year, the French humiliated England 53-10 at Twickenham and looked back in business with their 45-24 win in Wales on Sunday.
At the end of that game, the French bench had swollen the weight of their pack to around a 1,000kg as they put the squeeze on the Welsh.
And head coach Borthwick (above, right) has told his side to use their brains and brawn to get past Fabien Galthie’s men and build on the Ireland shock.
“That was one step at the weekend, it was an important step. This weekend we intend to take another step in that direction,” said Borthwick.
“There’s a two-fold challenge. One, their incredible size and power – six-two bench, huge forward pack, huge forwards on the bench to come on. They have also got incredible pace in their backline. So, you are either dealing with the power or you are dealing with the pace.
“Tactically, we are going to have to be very smart. We want to make sure we are on the money with what we do. Then we limit their opportunities.
“We know there is a physical challenge. Testmatch rugby is a physical challenge.
And the two teams probably that pose the biggest physical challenge right now are
South Africa and France. And we know that’s coming on Saturday night, we’ve been preparing for it, and I look forward to seeing this next step of our team.” French boss Galthie has kept faith with the 23 who ran away from Wales in the last quarter, so beasts such as prop Sebastien Taofifenua and older brother and lock Romain – both more than 20st – are replacements. Technically, England could still win the title, but it could be out of their hands before a ball is kicked in Lyon. Ireland need one bonus point against Scotland earlier in the day, even if they lose, and the trophy is theirs.
Then you could have a situation where England have won four, Ireland won three, but the title stays in Dublin.
Borthwick shrugged his shoulders, but defeat to Scotland and no bonus points against Wales and Italy could be costly.
He said: “It’s out of our control. We’re well aware of what the rules are at the start of the tournament. We play to them.
“We won at the weekend and want to get a result this weekend as well. Winning is a habit we want to get into. The more you win, the more you win.”
FRANCE: Leo Barre, Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Nicolas Depoortere, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Thomas Ramos, Nolann Le Garrec, Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Uini Atonio, Thibaud Flament, Emmanuel Meafou, Francois Cros, Charles Ollivon, Gregory Alldritt REPLACMENTS: Peato Mauvaka, Sebastien Taofifenua, Georges-Henri Colombe, Romain Taofifenua, Alexandre Roumat, Paul Boudehent, Maxime Lucu, Yoram Moefana
ENGLAND: George Furbank, Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Alex Mitchell,
Ellis Genge, Jamie
George (capt), Dan
Cole, Maro Itoje,
George Martin, Ollie Chessum, Sam
Underhill, Ben Earl REPLACEMENTS: Theo
Dan, Joe Marler, Will Stuart,
Ethan Roots, Alex Dombrandt, Danny Care, Marcus Smith, Manu Tuilagi