BRAVE BORTHWICK HAS MADE THE RIGHT CALL
WELL done Steve Borthwick. The England head coach yesterday showed the courage his predecessor Eddie Jones didn’t by making a big call at fly-half between Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith. Borthwick’s decision to start Farrell at No10 for tomorrow’s clash with Italy and drop Smith to the bench was absolutely the right one. I applaud him for that. At the end of his tenure, Jones seemed wedded to a 10-12 partnership of Smith and Farrell despite it clearly not working. Borthwick has drawn a line in the sand by opting for Farrell. I can pay him no higher compliment than to say that’s exactly what I would have done. If England hadn’t suffered three injuries at centre before the Scotland game, I think Farrell would have started at No10 in the Calcutta Cup clash. Now Henry Slade is back fit, Farrell is at fly-half. It’s his best position and I hope he has a stormer against Italy to show everyone just how good he can be as a chief playmaker. It is now abundantly clear Borthwick is not afraid to make big, bold decisions and that is what you need as an international head coach. For Smith, there will be obvious disappointment. The challenge for him is to force his way back into the side by proving he is a better No10 than Farrell. With Smith coming off the bench against a potentially tired Italian defence, he could cause carnage in the last quarter. He will certainly want to show what he can do. There is every chance England could lose to Italy for the first time at senior level. I don’t expect them to, but the way Italy played against France showed they are making real strides. Don’t get me wrong, England should win relatively comfortably. If I had one thing to say to Borthwick it would be for him not to use his bench if he doesn’t have to. England got their substitutes badly wrong in their defeat to Scotland.
The decision to take off Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler was a big mistake. It cost England victory. There is no reason why Genge, Jamie George and Sinckler can’t play all 80 minutes in the front row and if they and England are going well against Italy, I want to see them stay on. I think history will show the defeat by Scotland was a blessing in disguise for Borthwick as it’s immediately toughened him up as a coach and made him realise it doesn’t get any bigger than international rugby. I expect him to get his first victory this weekend. He has picked the right team to achieve that and has shown plenty of courage by going with Farrell ahead of Smith. Now it’s time for England’s players to repay his bravery by showing how good they can be.