What the radical England team against Italy says about their Six Nations campaign

If it can be said that you learn a lot about a man by how he reacts under pressure, then this is another instructional kit named by Steve Borthwick. It has become almost a joke about how the England head coach’s penchant for boldness in selection contrasts with his staid public image, but an entirely new defensive line and an unprecedented nine personnel changes reflect a campaign of which he and his team have lost control. Borthwick’s back row, halves, centers and back three have never been starters in combination; Apparently, too much for cohesion.

Boprthwick tried to underline that the backline, with the exception of Tommy Freeman, has been running together in training as a second row for the past few weeks. “These players have earned their selection,” Borthwick insisted, with two modifications imposed by the injuries of Alex Mitchell and Ollie Lawrence. “A number of them have only had a couple of chances so far in this tournament, but I think they’ve earned it because of the way they’ve trained.

“All of us have been really disappointed with the performances in the last two games. They have not met the required standards that we have set over a long period of time and many test matches; in many areas. One of them has been the willingness to throw that pass and take our opportunities, to play at the speed that we want to push. In the last two games, against very good opponents, we have not been able to do that.”

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It should be said, and stressed, that there is no imminent threat to Borthwick’s position. Senior figures in the Rugby Football Union (RFU) would be reluctant to leave Borthwick even if a 12-game winning streak were not so fresh in their memory; Just two games removed from an important series of successes, the head coach can sit back in relative comfort. But a loss to Italy would be a first and potentially change the question about England’s direction ahead of next year’s World Cup.

This two-week Eurotrip (England will spend time in Verona between matches in Rome and Paris) will become in part an exercise in figuring out the future and the components that need to stay or be replaced. A new look may be natural. Parallels have already been drawn with the 2018 campaign, which saw major figures such as Chris Robshaw, Mike Brown, James Haskell and captain Dylan Hartley play central roles; Neither would reach the World Cup a year and a half after Eddie Jones’ first sacrifice.

“I tell the team we have certain standards and I’m going to hold them to them,” Borthwick emphasized. “There are certain things that, to me, are unbreakable. Things that I’m not going to move forward on. Unfortunately, in the last two games, in certain things, we haven’t met those standards.

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“We were disappointed by the intensity. There are times in games where you’re going to fall on the scoreboard, that’s going to happen. You have to be consistent and smart in how you play, and make sure you keep the intensity up. I don’t think in the last game the intensity was at the level we needed. But we’ve drawn a line and we’re looking forward to Italy, and that’s what we’re doing now.

Borthwick had backed his team to attack Scotland again; the manner of their defeat to Ireland clearly meant they could not do the same against Italy. It is George Ford, supplanted by Fin Smith at flyhalf, who has obviously paid the price, even if England have been willing to devote more time to their next man at number 10. Ford’s role behind the scenes has been just as influential this week, but it is Smith’s team that he must lead, as he did so effectively in the second half of last year’s Six Nations.

Her midfield marriage to Seb Atkinson aged 10 and 12 was first forged on the slopes and in Worcester; Now that Freeman is also a colleague at the club, there is some synergy that reduces some of the risk to cohesion posed by radical changes. A radical change in approach would not be expected, but perhaps there is a little more potential in this team as built, which will be needed against an Italian team with the best dominant tackle rate (10.3 per cent) in the competition. There are also England’s problems in both 22-year-old teams: only their opponents have a worse conversion rate (34.2 per cent) in attack in this championship, and their defensive rejection rate of 40.9 per cent is the worst in the Six Nations.

“Seb brings distribution, he brings some strength in transport and, defensively, the ground he covers in defense is exceptional,” noted Borthwick. “Those are big strengths of his game. And while he’s a young player, and at this level he only has a couple of caps, I’m very excited about how he’s going to grow over this period.

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“There’s a time when we’ve tightened up. I’ve talked a lot about putting pressure on players to make that extra pass. Maybe the team has tightened up and not taken the shot. I want us to get back to playing the way we want to and be willing to throw that pass, move the ball a little more. I’ll encourage the team to do that this weekend.”

England XV will face Italy (Saturday, March 7, 16:40 GMT): 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes; 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 5 Alex Coles; 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl; 9 Ben Spencer, 10 Fin Smith; 11 Cadan Murley, 12 Seb Atkinson, 13 Tommy Freeman, 14 Tom Roebuck; 15 Elliot Daly.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Henry Pollock; 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith.