The George Ford-Owen Farrell axis will be given another try by Steve Borthwick as England gear up for the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals with a final pool clash against Samoa on Saturday afternoon.
For the first time this tournament, Ford starts at fly half with Farrell outside him at No 12 in a dual playmaker pivot as Manu Tuilagi shifts further out to No 13 in a reprisal of the trio that spectacularly shone during the 2019 World Cup, especially in the iconic semi-final victory over New Zealand.
However, four years on, questions endure about the trio’s suitability to play together, with Tuilagi often outflanked defensively when posted at outside centre rather than No 12 and the Ford-Farrell pairing having looked fairly stodgy in the aftermath of that World Cup.
Until the World Cup warm-up defeat to Wales earlier this summer, where the partnership’s rebirth was ended after just six minutes due to Farrell’s red card, the pair hadn’t been seen at 10-12 for England since a heavy loss to Ireland in March 2021. However, with his captain having returned from a ban and Ford shining at fly half, Borthwick has opted to wheel it out once more with an eye on the quarter-finals.
It means Joe Marchant, who has impressed at No 13 this tournament, shifts out to the wing, where he has plenty of experience for club side Harlequins. Marchant is one of England’s premier kick chasers and joining a back three with Jonny May and Freddie Steward suggests a kick-heavy strategy could be in the offing against Samoa.
Alex Mitchell appears to be cementing his place as Borthwick’s preferred starting scrum half, with veteran Danny Care backing him up from the bench, while Tom Curry returns from suspension for his sending off against Argentina to start in the back row alongside the ever-present Courtney Lawes and Ben Earl – still given the nod ahead of the only ‘specialist’ No 8 in the squad, Billy Vunipola.
Ben Earl continues at No 8 for England— (PA Wire)
Dan Cole returns to the front row in place of Karl Sinckler at tighthead prop, packing down alongside Jamie George and Ellis Genge, while the first-choice second row of Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum are united once more.
Although England are already guaranteed top spot in Pool D, Borthwick appears to have picked something close to the starting XV that would probably start the quarter-final (likely against Fiji) next week as they look to build momentum for a proper shot at going deep in the knockouts.
Farrell will also likely reach a milestone in Lille this weekend as he needs just two points to become England’s all-time leading points scorer and surpass Jonny Wilkinson’s tally of 1,179.
“Whilst we are of course pleased with our results and qualification into the pool stages, we want to continue our improvement with a positive performance against a difficult and in-form Samoa team,” said Borthwick. “Samoa are renowned for their physicality and this last game in the pool stages will be an excellent test for us as we continue in our Rugby World Cup journey.
“We are delighted to be heading back to Lille for this weekend’s fixture, where we enjoyed seeing so many England supporters for our last match. Once again, we look forward to seeing a sea of white England shirts in the stands of the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Saturday.”
England starting XV: 15. Freddie Steward, 14. Joe Marchant, 13. Manu Tuilagi, 12. Owen Farrell (captain), 11. Jonny May, 10. George Ford, 9. Alex Mitchell; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Jamie George, 3. Dan Cole, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Ollie Chessum, 6. Courtney Lawes, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Ben Earl
Replacements: 16. Theo Dan, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Kyle Sinckler, 19. George Martin, 20. Billy Vunipola, 21. Danny Care, 22. Marcus Smith, 23. Ollie Lawrence
