Retired England great Brian Moore has called on Steve Borthwick to go with a 5/3 forwards/backs bench split this November so that new attack coach Lee Blackett can best wield his influence.
The English are preparing to open their four-match November campaign with this Saturday’s London fixture versus Australia, which will be followed by games against Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina.
Ex-Bath assistant Blackett, who was previously director of rugby at the collapsed Wasps, is now a full-time member of Borthwick’s staff after the RFU reached a deal to buy him out of his contract at The Rec.
Borthwick was left convinced that he needed to recruit Blackett following the impact the assistant made during the summer when filling in for Richard Wigglesworth, who was touring with Andy Farrell’s British and Irish Lions.
“Borthwick’s opinion of George Ford is yet to be clarified…”
It was September when the RFU confirmed that Blackett would be joining ahead of the Autumn Nations Series, a move that resulted in Wigglesworth switching to defence and Joe El-Abd to the forwards from defence.
Blackett had to work with a 6/2 bench divide in three of his four England summer matches; the non-cap fixture versus France and the two-game series in Argentina before the 5/3 split was brought back in for the season-ending match in the USA.
Overall, the 6/2 tactic was head coach Borthwick’s preference in seven of England’s 13 matches last season, including that uncapped French game. It was used once in last November’s Autumn Nations Series (versus New Zealand) and then on three occasions in the Six Nations (against Ireland, Italy and Wales).
Moore, though, now wants Borthwick to abandon 6/2 and stick with a 5/3 bench for the upcoming November series. Why? “Owen Farrell’s exclusion has removed one variable at number 10, but Borthwick’s opinion of George Ford is yet to be clarified,” he argued in The Telegraph.
“Ford’s attacking form for Sale has been as good as ever and it is a close call between him and Northampton’s Fin Smith to start the more challenging games against Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina. I would favour a 5/3 bench split that allowed Fin Smith to play in at least two of the games.
“Borthwick has the relatively easier game against Fiji to experiment but Lee Blackett, England’s newly appointed attack coach, would surely prefer to start with the same half-backs and inside centre against the higher-ranked sides.
“If Borthwick does want to achieve this, it makes his choice of the split between forwards and backs on the bench even more important. If he goes for a 6/2 split, as is becoming increasingly fashionable, that means Marcus Smith, who more naturally covers both fly-half and full-back, is likely to be favoured.
“That would leave Tommy Freeman to cover the number 15 position, given that the absences of George Furbank and Elliot Daly have left Freddie Steward as the only regular club full-back.
“What makes the bench split decision even more problematic is the fact that unless Borthwick goes for a 5/3 split, it will be almost impossible to give opportunities to wingers like Henry Arundell, whose pace is something that England fans have longed to see tested at this level.
“As England are not going to face South Africa, this is a series where they can justify choosing three backs on the bench. Like me, many England fans are looking forward expectantly to see what difference Blackett will make to England’s attack and whether he will be able to do something that no coach since Clive Woodward has been able to do – create a world-class centre partnership.
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“This problem, which goes back long before the current partnership of Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence, is one that I believe will go a long way to defining England’s World Cup campaign.
“How a player like Max Ojomoh, a potential number 12 and even 10 cover, is viewed is of particular interest when it comes to this question. And if England really do view Ben Earl as a centre option, let this experiment take place sooner rather than later.”
Moore went on to reference the form of the England back-row contenders, labelling Guy Pepper’s at Bath as “sensational” and the progression of Henry Pollock as something that will be “fascinating to watch” over the next two years.
As for an autumn results prediction, Moore signed off: “With home advantage and this being the start of their season, the bottom line must be for England to emerge with at least three, if not a clean sweep of four wins.”