OLD GUARD KEY FOR BORTHWICK
Veterans will have a big influence on newcomers
STEVE BORTHWICK has revealed the reason he has given his old dogs of war another Six Nations outing – even if they will not make the next World Cup.
The England head coach included props Dan Cole, 36, and Joe Marler, 33, plus 37-year-old scrum-half Danny Care in the party as they prepare for the opener against Italy on Saturday week.
At 33, new skipper Jamie George is no certainty to be at Australia 2027 either.
Borthwick was a rookie lock at Bath, making his debut in 1998, when the squad was ripped apart by retirements and players leaving.
Stars who left around that time and in the early 2000s included Jerry Guscott, Mark Regan, Dan Lyle, Andy Nicol and Mike Catt, leaving the youngsters to fend for themselves.
Head coach Borthwick, 44, has picked seven uncapped players in his 36-man group and was determined they would not be left to sink or swim.
He said: “When I was a young player coming through at Bath there was a group of young players and around 2000 and 2001 myself, Mike Tindall and Iain Balshaw, and Matt Perry, who was a couple of years older than us, performed well.
“At that point the club made the decision to take away all the experience – British Lions and England players, internationals. “They said we have got this great group of youngsters.
“Well, we might be a great group of youngsters but there’s a lot of people who have been there, seen it and done it before. Their influence is very, very important and are players who make other players better. That generally comes with their experience. You look at the effect Jamie George has in gluing the team together. It is just awesome.
“I am delighted that we have got Joe Marler and his experience around the group. I can’t describe just how powerful it was in terms of how he was. Dan Cole as well.”
Cole, Care, Marler and Co jetted off to Girona in Northern Spain last night to prepare for the Italy game at the training base of the local football club – who are top of La Liga.
Borthwick spent the past two weeks going round groups of players and revealed they want to get cracking at the five-star complex.
He said: “I met the players last week. We did a South-east camp last Monday and a North camp last Tuesday. The previous week we did South-west and the East Midlands.
“So I’ve met all the players and talked to them about what we want to do.
“I sensed that, while they’ve been focusing on their clubs, they want to get going with England.”