My England XV to face Ireland – no Spencer and Smith at 15 ...Middle East

Continuity, cohesion, not throwing the baby out with the bathwater… however you like to phrase it, Steve Borthwick has made it clear in his two years as England head coach that he dislikes changing the team too much, too often.

As he now ponders selection for next week’s kick-off of the 2025 Six Nations, away to the back-to-back champions Ireland, there is a little leeway in Borthwick’s recent comments on “pace and athleticism” to envisage a few alterations; or it may be he simply believes the existing players can do more in that area.

One victory that went well during an often troubled past 12 months might offer clues to the picks for next week, in addition to Borthwick’s known preferences.

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When England played and beat Ireland at Twickenham last March, they were driven forward by relatively quick ball delivered at the ruck, second-row George Martin and centre Ollie Lawrence carrying hard off short passes, and Marcus Smith coming on from the bench to nail a winning drop goal.

Having missed the start of the Six Nations with injury, Smith had to bide his time behind George Ford.

So, if we look at a likely team in the image of “Steady Steve” to run out at the Aviva Stadium, the accent is on players we have seen under Borthwick and who are in the squad currently preparing in Spain.

A hamstring injury has ruled out the already deposed captain Jamie George, and with Luke Cowan-Dickie rediscovering the best of himself, the Sale Sharks hooker will surely start, with Theo Dan on the bench. In this case, the pecking order appears straightforward.

It is much less so at scrum-half, where Raffi Quirke and Ben Spencer were called in to train in Spain, with Jack van Poortvliet out injured and Alex Mitchell on the sidelines nursing a knee niggle.

Harry Randall made some appearances last summer and autumn, so the Bristol Bears man might be considered just ahead of Quirke and Spencer – but both of them are more physical than Randall.

The assumption is Mitchell gets fit for Dublin, as Borthwick has predicted he will.

My England team to face Ireland

Backs:

Forwards:

Bench:

An England player qualifying for Borthwick’s continuity can have “credit in the bank” – the term applied by skills coach Kevin Sinfield to Ollie Chessum in a press session in Girona on Thursday.

The rangy Leicester Tigers forward also missed all of the autumn, and he has played just 54 minutes – last week – since October.

But Chessum’s reputation seemed to grow in his absence – it goes like that in sport, sometimes – and Sinfield described him as “naturally fit” and someone colleagues look up to.

He also fits the preference Borthwick has shown in a lot of these top-level tussles for a big No 6 who adds a third jumper in the line-out.

England beat Ireland last year with Maro Itoje, George Martin and Chessum starting, and Sam Underhill (now injured) and Ben Earl completing the back row, plus two more back-rowers, Chandler Cunningham-South and Alex Dombrandt, on the bench.

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There don’t appear to be the resources for a 6-2 split in the replacements now, although Borthwick may think differently.

Full-back George Furbank’s injury and the accent on aerial ability, partly due to the law giving greater access to chasers, points to Freddie Steward coming back in.

There has been conjecture over Steward moving to the wing, as he has done at times for Leicester and England, but sense too in starting with two regulars in the position, in Tom Roebuck and Tommy Freeman – not least if Ollie Sleightholme is unavailable, having missed his last three club matches with a hamstring problem.

The third bench back may prove to be a dilemma for Borthwick.

Has Ford’s time gone? Will England want the 32-year-old Elliot Daly’s Test experience and good form, even though he didn’t get a look-in during the autumn? Will they ask Oscar Beard to cover centre and wing, or promote Cadan Murley?

In the midfield, there is concern over the occasional stodginess of Lawrence and Henry Slade, who had all of 2024 together, but with the squad as it is, and their defensive ability, it is very difficult to see Borthwick turning away from them.

With everything up for public debate at this stage, how about the claims of other players and combinations and a more fluid style, in what we might call a “give it a shake-up, Steve” 23?

Freeman’s try-scoring rate of two in 15 England appearances is not flash, whereas Murley and Sleightholme are zippy finishers who come alive when there is a gap down the tramlines.

If Freeman can police the right-hand touchline for the kicks from Ireland’s James Lowe, England could cap Murley in a combination Freeman recently described as “aerial ability and wheels”, in reference to his club pairing with Sleightholme at Northampton.

This approach really makes Freeman a No 14-and-a-half – one of so many examples of a simple shirt number only telling part of rugby’s real story.

That fly-half who thinks “tackle” is something you take on a fishing trip is consigned to history; the wing who looks the other way at every ruck will not be selected.

And on the flipside there is excitement when a hooker like Curtis Langdon, of Northampton, turns up with traits formally associated with an openside flanker.

Langdon played for England A in the autumn and is in the squad for the injured George, and he belongs with several in a “give it a lash 23” about whom you’d have to say “OK, it’s Ireland away, but if you’re good enough and it works for the team, go for it”.

Plus, Langdon has a Dylan Hartley-esque snarl that might ruffle the Irish – or might end in tears.

Dan was skittling opponents for Saracens against Castres, and in this line-up he can try it against the Irish from the off.

Similarly, Sale’s Bevan Rodd and Asher Opoku-Fordjour would be asked to recharge England in the tight and the loose.

As ever, the shirt number debate has another side to it, expressed to The i Paper by former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio as “I like square pegs in square holes” – or “use a player in his best position”.

Fin Smith would start here to see if his smooth fly-half orthodoxy can work at this level.

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Of course, that means Marcus Smith would have to be sprung from full-back, either from the start or with plenty of the match left. Hmm.

Even the “glass half full” among us who revel in the Harlequin’s skills are prone to wince at a mental image of Marcus Smith wearing No 15 with the Irish hounds of hell and a Dublin gale bearing down on him.

Tom Willis is Saracens’ week-to-week No 8, able to be more direct on both sides of the ball from static situations and set-pieces, than his clubmate Earl, who has been Borthwick’s man of late.

Ben Curry has already had a few chances for England that have not hit the heights but the Sale flanker and captain is in form this season – more so than his twin brother Tom – while fellow flankers Ted Hill and the 20-year-old Henry Pollock are yearning to show strong club performances should open the door to senior status.

England will probably need at least one Curry to lock horns with Ireland’s jackalling maestro Tadhg Beirne, but a shot for Hill is deserved, if risky.

The England back-row wildcard is Cunningham-South, who has been perceived as slipping slightly since the autumn, but has the attributes for at least 60 minutes toe to toe with Joe McCarthy, Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris, Jack Conan and friends.

Returning to the backs, stick Quirke is on the bench and also trust him to give at least 30 minutes if things aren’t going well.

In the midfield, there is a doubt over Northampton’s Fraser Dingwall lacking the physicality for Tests, especially opposite an Ireland centre pairing permed from Bundee Aki, Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw.

But Dingwall distributes like a dream, if England believe they can get on the front foot.

Can they? The obvious charge against a “shake it up 15” is they might dazzle the world for a few minutes, but Ireland’s Leinster-based relentlessness and innate understanding will pummel the life out of them.

There again, that might happen to Borthwick’s first-choice line-up, too.

Either way, England must plan for a repeat of the joys of last spring, with perhaps a dash of something beyond the predictable.

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