- England boss Steve Borthwick is preparing to revamp his faltering back line
- Marcus Smith has been dropped ahead of Sunday’s home clash with Italy
- Exeter centre Henry Slade has been left out too by the England coach
Marcus Smith and Henry Slade have become the high-profile victims of an England selection overhaul today as Steve Borthwick has chosen to revamp his faltering back line.
The head coach has brought forward his team announcement – which was originally planned for Friday – to reveal two seismic changes behind the scrum. Marcus Smith has been demoted to a bench role against Italy at Twickenham on Sunday, while Slade has been omitted from the match-day 23 altogether. He has been carrying a minor injury which has limited his involvement in training since the 16-15 win over Scotland, but the Exeter centre was deemed available to play.
He is replaced in midfield by Fraser Dingwall, to form an all-Northampton, 9-10-12 alliance with Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith. Slade and Ollie Lawrence had become an established midfield partnership in the last year, but now Borthwick is deploying a new combination, in the hope of igniting England’s stilted attack.
With Marcus Smith out of the XV, his place at full-back is taken by Elliot Daly of Saracens, who made a telling impact off the bench in the narrow wins over France and Scotland – scoring the decisive, last-gasp try as the hosts beat the French last month. However, this will come as a devastating setback for Harlequins playmaker Smith, who became entrenched as the starting 10 in the national team last year.
The 26-year-old lined up at fly-half in eight successive Tests after seizing his chance when George Ford missed the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand last year due to injury. But when he was relocated to full-back to pave the way for Fin Smith to be promoted, it suggested that the writing was on the wall for magic Marcus and now he is reduced to a back-up role, with major implications for his prospects of earning a place on the Lions tour of Australia.
Meanwhile, there is one change up front as former captain Jamie George has been restored as the starting hooker in place of Luke Cowan-Dickie. The promotion means that George will have a leading role from the start on the occasion of his 100th Test appearance for England.
On the bench, where Borthwick has again opted for a six-two split between forwards and backs, Marcus Smith is joined by Jack van Poortvliet, after the Leicester scrum-half led England ‘A’ to an impressive victory over their Irish counterparts in Bristol.
Marcus Smith has been dropped to the bench for England’s Six Nations home game against Italy
Henry Slade has also been left out of the England squad for Sunday’s game
England head coach Steve Borthwick has revamped his side’s faltering back line
