England have created great depth and this is what Steve Borthwick must do next

The autumn series has ended with England in exactly the position that they would have chosen before it began. They won all their matches and deserved to do so, even if they had a bit of luck in the final stages of their narrow win over Argentina. Whatever came their way, including two early tries scored by New Zealand, they and in particular their bench, fashioned a way to win.

What should have pleased fans most is the sense of purpose that England exuded and the clear indication that their new attack coach, Lee Blackett, has begun to construct a more sophisticated and challenging element to their attack. Especially the way in which they take the ball into defenders on the gain line. To reverse a run of five consecutive defeats against top-tier teams last November, with 11 consecutive wins is no mean feat and what Borthwick has uncovered on the way is equally welcome.

Options are what Steve Borthwick has found in the past four games. Not just speculative punts on new playing combinations, but players that have shown they have the ability if they are given an extended opportunity. Nothing is more welcome in this regard than the centre options, where Fraser Dingwall, Tommy Freeman and Ollie Lawrence stood up and Max Ojomoh had a dreamlike run-out against Argentina.

Not everybody will agree with the following comment, but of all the things Borthwick can do for England, I believe that his best contribution would be to establish a pecking order in the players challenging for the centre positions. Some people prefer to see players like Freeman and Elliot Daly as utility players, but deciding on their best positions and letting them and their competitors vie for supremacy would create the sort of fierce competition that drives players’ performances and benefits the team. In turn, this would give stability and clarity to England’s options in the back three and allow greater cohesion. England have specialist wingers with pace and power like Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tom Roebuck and several even younger players who might produce a very potent attack out wide. Why not let them have a straight fight for their specialist positions?

Borthwick has made shrewd judgments about his bench and starting options in important positions, not least the front row. It is always something of a gamble to start what might be second-choice players because of the risk that damage is done that you cannot repair, but it is hugely important for England future campaigns that props like Fin Baxter, Joe Heyes and Asher Opoku-Fordjour stood up to the first-choice opposition front-rows they were pitted against. The way in which South Africa undid Ireland in the scrum last weekend showed what happens if you get into trouble in that phase of play.

You have to be able to rely on your scrum if you are to sustain any kind of pressure on your opposition and one of the best ways of taking away momentum from opponents is to make them struggle up front. Not many fans will have noted this as a significant event, but the two scrum penalties that England forced against New Zealand were such and, for me, marked a “growing up” marking point for their pack and their bench replacements.

In the back row, the return to form of Sam Underhill and Tom Curry gives Borthwick a much freer hand when it comes to England’s overall game plan because they bring that essential power in the tackle and at the breakdown, which is a different option to the speed of Henry Pollock and Guy Pepper. When you add the bulk of Chandler Cunningham-South and the possibility of a fit George Martin, it increases possible blindside permutations.

Consistency and clarity in selection and competition are not exciting concepts but they are the foundations on which lasting and effective improvements are made. England fans should be looking at what is done in this regard as well as enjoying the victories because it is here that their side’s ultimate fortunes will be decided.

The only way this autumn could have been better for England was for them to have played the world champions, South Africa, to test themselves against the team that is comfortably at the top of global rugby. To even suggest that England might make this a decent contest has drawn the old, and frankly tired, allegations of arrogance and over-estimation of ability from non-English rugby fans. Nobody I know who is connected with the England camp is suggesting that this squad are the finished article, but it would be wrong to ignore the strides made and Borthwick and his coaching team deserve recognition for their role in the demonstrable improvements seen over this series.

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