Steve Borthwick: England coach urges young players not to ‘stay in the shadows’

Since the Six Nations, cap centurion Danny Care has retired from international duty, while Manu Tuilagi, with 60 caps, is now unavailable having opted to sign for French side Bayonne.

96-cap fly half George Ford and the 66-cap Elliot Daly are both injured, leaving Henry Slade as the most experienced back, with 62 appearances, and Marcus Smith the second most with just 32.

But Borthwick has picked six backs from the champions Northampton including the uncapped Ollie Sleightholme, while Sale’s uncapped but in-form duo of Tom Roebuck and Joe Carpenter are also included.

“We do have areas of the team where we don’t have a lot of caps,” Borthwick explained.

“But we do have some great players. Guys who have been playing in a tough Premiership competition and are match-hardened and ready to go.

“Several of who were playing in the Premiership final in what was about as close to a Test match atmosphere as you can get in club rugby.

“Those experiences can be transferable straight into the Test match arena. And that’s what I will be looking to do with this group of players.”

Borthwick revealed that the Premiership finalists had joined the camp early on Monday to start their recovery, calling this a “really positive sign” – with regards to their mindset.

Meanwhile, the England boss admitted his main challenge would be to get the side to pick up where they left off at the end of the Six Nations.

After a third-placed finish at the World Cup, England evolved their attack through the 2024 Championship, culminating in a defeat of Ireland and a narrow loss to France in Lyon.

“Every team has breakthroughs, and we want to build on those foundations,” Borthwick said.

“As you see the team evolving you see an England team that has pace, footwork and dynamism in it. Those are the attributes we want to use in the way we play. Tactically smart and bringing all their talent and points of difference on to the pitch.

“Picking up from where it left off, that’s a real challenge. I’ve gone on record talking about consistency of selection and cohesion and partnerships, and players that have played together a lot, which comes from the club game because you just don’t have time to get it at international level.”