England’s Six Nations injury woes build as Borthwick bemoans club delays
England’s Six Nations preparations have been disrupted by an untimely injury to the Bath centre Ollie Lawrence which will force a rethink of their midfield plans for the opening game with Italy next week.
Luke Cowan-Dickie and Oscar Beard are also now sidelined, with the head coach, Steve Borthwick, suggesting some Premiership clubs were slow to update him about the fitness of certain players.
The uncapped Bath pair of Max Ojomoh and Will Muir, and Newcastle’s Jamie Blamire, have been added to the squad who have headed out to train in Spain before the side’s tournament opener in Rome. The loss of the in-form Lawrence is a particularly big blow, however, as he was earmarked for a key starting role against the Azzurri.
While the full extent of Lawrence’s injury is not yet clear, it leaves Northampton’s uncapped centre Fraser Dingwall as the frontrunner to start at 12 and gives Borthwick a real selection poser. With Manu Tuilagi also injured, Lawrence had been in line to supply both power and pace and like-for-like replacements are in short supply unless Borthwick chooses to pair Dingwall with his bigger Saints teammate Tommy Freeman.
At that point it might also be tempting, in a quest for immediate chemistry, to plump for a Northampton half-back pairing of Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith as well.
That, however, would mean the uncapped Smith leapfrogging the more experienced Marcus Smith and George Ford, a sizeable gamble despite Northampton’s recent impressive exploits which were capped off by a famous 14-man victory in Munster on Saturday.
Alternatively Henry Slade and Smith could still feature at 13 and 10 respectively and play alongside Dingwall, offering plenty of skill and ability but only a limited amount of gain-line physicality. Ojomoh is a player to keep an eye on for the future but at present he is behind Scotland’s Cameron Redpath
as a first-choice starter for Bath.
It is a headache that Borthwick could definitely have done without, further compounded by weekend injuries to Sale’s Cowan-Dickie and Beard, the young Harlequins back. Beard has still travelled to Girona as he completes the return-to-play protocols for concussion but Cowan-Dickie will remain at home to see a specialist.
The situation has left Borthwick increasingly dismayed by the current levels of club and country communication surrounding potentially injured players.
“Right now we’re dealing with information we haven’t been aware of as quickly as we can, which is disappointing,” Borthwick said. “Last night we were finding things out for the first time. Which is not what it should be.
Next year we will be in a better situation. We’ll have a new EPS agreement in place and we aim to have all the players’ training volumes, training loads and their medical information. It should be much more aligned … so that the club game and the national team can thrive. As a coach I need to know where the players are at and how hard I can push.”
In times past the England management would have had a much simpler option: just throw Owen Farrell the No 12 jersey. Racing 92’s confirmation on Monday that England’s record points scorer has signed a two-year deal to play Top 14 rugby in France next season, however, removes that possibility until 2026 at the earliest, with the subsequent chance that Farrell could sign an extension to his contract if life in Paris proves agreeable. There are also substantial implications for Saracens who are declining to comment about suggestions they have not yet received a requested transfer fee of £500,000 to cover the remainder of Farrell’s existing contract.
As and when Farrell and his family do relocate, it can only be hoped they will enjoy the experience and, in due course, return richer for the experience in every sense. For a 32-year-old who has been based in and around St Albans since his teens, a fresh environment has obvious appeal even without the financial incentives, said to be worth up to £1m per year.
In his absence there will certainly be a Farrell-sized hole for club and country. His influence has been deeply ingrained for more than a decade and it will be fascinating to see how a rebuilding England go without him. Borthwick believes the focus on national team members has rarely been more intense and part of the aim of the Girona camp is to seek to dissipate some of that pres
sure.
“The scrutiny this team is under, the way this team is viewed and the attention this team now receives is so much greater than when I left the team after the 2019 World Cup. It has elevated ... that is a society thing but I also think it’s about the England rugby team in particular.”