Steve Borthwick says he and his players are also feeling “the hurt and pain” caused by England’s losing streak but has sidestepped questions about his job security if his team are beaten by Fiji on Saturday. The head coach has not tasted victory since early February and will come under significant external pressure should his side slip to a sixth successive Test defeat at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Many England supporters were disappointed with the way Borthwick’s team started and finished last Saturday’s 45-21 defeat to South Africa in Johannesburg, with the Springboks racing away to an early 17-0 lead before piling on the misery late on after England lost two players to avoidable yellow cards. If they were to suffer a similar fate to a Fiji side beaten 39-24 by Wales last Saturday the howls of frustration would become deafening.
It may partially explain why Borthwick has steered clear of parachuting any debutants into his starting XV, with the uncapped trio of Noah Caluori, Benhard Janse van Rensburg and the 26-year-old Bristol prop George Kloska all named on the bench. Henry Pollock is also among the replacements with Borthwick instead preferring a more conservative-looking starting XV.
The return of Henry Slade at outside centre means Tommy Freeman reverts to the wing in the absence of the injured Cadan Murley while Guy Pepper is preferred to Tom Curry at flanker but, otherwise, the players who fell short at Ellis Park have been invited to make amends.
Borthwick has also resisted any temptation to involve fringe squad members like Greg Fisilau, Ted Hill or Max Ojomoh and declined to confirm or deny whether the Rugby Football Union has given him a cast-iron guarantee that he is safe in his role through to next year’s Rugby World Cup.
“The conversations I have with the RFU are private,” said Borthwick. “I understand why you ask the question because my whole career I’ve been asked questions like that by people like yourselves. All I focus upon is this Saturday … that’s all I ever did as a player and that’s all I do as a coach.
“You accept the scrutiny, the pressure and the expectation because you want to try and achieve some great things. When this team doesn’t perform the way we want, we feel the hurt and pain that our supporters feel and we feel it so much because we all care so much. I hope that this weekend we can get back to winning ways.”
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Russell to return against South Africa
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Finn Russell returns to the Scotland team for their Nations Championship match against world champions South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday. The 33-year-old fly-half missed a first-round victory over Argentina in Cordoba last weekend due to a calf injury.
Russell replaces Tom Jordan, who is among the eight replacements for the Test at Loftus Versfeld Stadium. Gregor Townsend made two other changes to his starting lineup as Scotland seek to end a nine-match losing streak against the record four-time Rugby World Cup champions.
Both are among the tight five with tighthead prop Zander Fagerson replacing Elliot Millar Mills and lock Gregor Brown promoted in place of Jonny Gray. Mills and Gray have been omitted from the matchday 23 while Townsend reshuffled his bench as Scotland play in South Africa for the first time since a 55-6 drubbing in Gqeberha 12 years ago.
Forwards Will Hurd, Josh Bayless and Magnus Bradbury have been promoted along with back Stafford McDowall.
Scotland team: Kyle Rowe; Kyle Steyn, Rory Hutchinson, Sione Tuipulotu (capt), Jamie Dobie; Finn Russell, Ben White; Jack Dempsey, Rory Darge, Matt Fagerson; Scott Cummings, Gregor Brown; Zander Fagerson, Ewan Ashman, Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: Gregor Hiddleston, Rory Sutherland, Will Hurd, Alex Samuel, Josh Bayliss, Magnus Bradbury, Tom Jordan, Stafford McDowall
Coach: Gregor Townsend (SCO)
Borthwick also acknowledged there had “been some tough conversations” after the Springbok defeat. The England fly-half Fin Smith bluntly described his team as “soft defensively” but the management is resisting any radical tactical U-turns. “It doesn’t matter whether we have won 12 games in a row or had a series of losses, we are always debriefing our processes and what we can do better,” stressed Borthwick. “That is part of what we do.”
It cannot help that there have been 17 different starting centre partnerships during Borthwick’s 46-Test tenure to date, with Janse van Rensburg the latest contender. The 29-year-old qualified this week on residency grounds having previously been ineligible because of a brief age-grade appearance for South Africa in 2016, but, for now, Borthwick has recalled the in-form Slade to start alongside Gloucester’s Seb Atkinson.
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England and Fiji XVs
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England: M Smith; Freeman, Slade, Atkinson, Feyi-Waboso; F Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge, George (capt), Heyes, Coles, Martin, Chessum, Pepper, Earl.
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour, Kloska, Curry, Pollock, Mitchell, Janse van Rensburg, Caluori.
Fiji: Rayasi; Karaivalevu, Ravouvou, Tuisova, Wainiqolo; Muntz, Kuruvoli; Mawi, Ikanivere, Doge, Ratuva, Nasilasila, Yato, Tagitagivalu, Botia
Replacements: Matavesi, Matave, Ravai, Mayanavanua, Canakivata, Sovakula, Lomani, Armstrong-Ravula.
The 19-year-old Caluori, meanwhile, is also poised for a second-half role having finished as this season’s top try-scorer in the domestic Prem. His ability in the air is on another level and England’s plan will be to supply him with as much ball as possible when he comes on. “With a player like that we need to make sure we give him the opportunity to do what he does as well as anyone in the world,” confirmed Borthwick.
A glance at the Fiji teamsheet, however, underlines the lurking danger awaiting England should they underperform again. The influential Caleb Muntz is back at fly-half and the backline is stacked with potential gamebreakers including Jiuta Wainiqolo, Josua Tuisova, Kalaveti Ravouvou and Salesi Rayasi.
England: M Smith; Freeman, Slade, Atkinson, Feyi-Waboso; F Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge, George (capt), Heyes, Coles, Martin, Chessum, Pepper, Earl.
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour, Kloska, Curry, Pollock, Mitchell, Janse van Rensburg, Caluori.
Fiji: Rayasi; Karaivalevu, Ravouvou, Tuisova, Wainiqolo; Muntz, Kuruvoli; Mawi, Ikanivere, Doge, Ratuva, Nasilasila, Yato, Tagitagivalu, Botia
Replacements: Matavesi, Matave, Ravai, Mayanavanua, Canakivata, Sovakula, Lomani, Armstrong-Ravula
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