England head coach Steve Borthwick has named his team to play New Zealand, for his side’s opening match of the 2024 Autumn Nations Series. England host the All Blacks at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham this Saturday for their first of four matches, with fixtures against Australia, South Africa and Japan also booked in throughout November.
England are eyeing up a chance at redemption at the All Blacks, after suffering back to back defeats to Scott Robertson’s side on their latest Summer tour. New Zealand were fortunate to snatch a one point win (16-15) in Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium, before the All Blacks upped the intensity for their return Test at Auckland’s Eden Park (24-17).
Borthwick spoke to the reporting media this afternoon at England’s base at Pennyhill Park, and addressed a handful of his key decisions ahead of his team’s Autumn Series opener. From the Curry brothers teaming together for the first time in England colours to the unexpected omission of Sam Underhill, here are the top five talking points of Steve Borthwick’s England team to play the All Blacks this Saturday.
England team to play New Zealand
15. George Furbank 14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso 13. Henry Slade 12. Ollie Lawrence 11. Tommy Freeman 10. Marcus Smith 9. Ben Spencer 1. Ellis Genge 2. Jamie George 3. Will Stuart 4. Maro Itoje 5. George Martin 6. Chandler Cunningham-South 7. Tom Curry 8. Ben Earl
Replacements: 16. Theo Dan 17. Fin Baxter 18. Dan Cole 19. Nick Isiekwe 20. Ben Curry 21. Alex Dombrandt 22. Harry Randall 23. George Ford
5 TALKING POINTS: ENGLAND SQUAD TO PLAY THE ALL BLACKS
1. Tom and Ben Curry named in the same England team for the first time
Tom and Ben Curry have been named in the same England team for the first time in their careers, with the Sale brothers set to bring the fight to New Zealand this Saturday. This milestone doubles up as Tom Curry’s first England start for over a year, with the back row’s last appearence in Borthwick’s starting XV coming in the Rugby World Cup Final’s bronze medal match against Argentina.
This will also be Tom Curry’s first start at the home of English Rugby for two years, with his last run out from kick off at Twickenham coming against South Africa in the 2022 Autumn Internationals.
“They, I think, are very, very excited.” Borthwick said. “I suspect their family are really excited, and they’ve been brilliant in training. Watch Ben’s game so far for Sale. I think he’s been excellent. He’s led really well, I’ve chat to Alex (Sanderson – Sale Director of Rugby), and talked about the impact both of them.
“With Ben, he (Sanderson) praises him enormously. And I’ve been really impressed by how they play and then watching them train together and train against each other, it drives the whole intensity of training up. I think when they’re on opposing sides, they both want to get the better of each other. When they’re on the same team in training, I think they almost work off each other and play off each other, which is great for this team.”
2. Henry Slade returns for England after shoulder surgery and Chiefs comeback
After running out for 54 minutes for Exeter Chiefs last Sunday, Henry Slade is back with the England camp and has been named in the team to start against New Zealand. The question marks around Slade’s match fitness have vanished, with the midfielder completing his recovery from off-season shoulder surgery, and making his return to the pitch against Harlequins at Sandy Park.
“Sladey is a really important player for us.” Borthwick said. “He’s an experienced Test match player, now more than ever. He’s in fantastic condition. He’s grown as a leader within this team. We’ve spoken a lot about the leadership of this team and he’s grown in a number of different areas as well.”
“I think the nature is that when you’ve had the shoulder surgery he’s had, he’s been able to be running on his feet. He’s as fit as I’ve ever seen him. He’s in fantastic condition. He feels in great shape. He’s a player who is energised and full of energy. He’ll go really well on Saturday.”
“Rob (Baxter – Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby) and I spoke about the intention Henry would leave the England camp and return to Exeter. I spoke to Rob about what the right thing to do was. Sladey said he wanted to get on the field and play for his club. I backed that decision. Like I said, he’s an experienced player and knows what he needs. I back that.”
3. Ollie Chessum underwent knee surgery whilst George Ford is back and firing
Fly half George Ford is also back in the England set-up, having successfully completed his quad injury rehab in time for the Autumn Nations Series. However unlike Slade, Ford has not yet ran out for his cub side Sale Sharks, but has been named amongst the replacements for the upcoming match against the All Blacks.
Ford surpasses Fin Smith to a spot in Steve Borthwick’s match day 23, with the Northampton Saints man left to the way-side with his Harlequins namesake Marcus taking the lead in the starting 10 shirt. Whilst Borthwick did not speak about George Ford, he did provide an injury update on Ollie Chessum, as the Leicester Tigers lock departed the England squad with a knee injury.
“’Chess’ had knee surgery yesterday, which went really well. He won’t feature in the autumn series. We expect him to be back and available before the Six Nations. Really disappointed for him, and also he’s an important part of this squad.
“You’ve seen that over the last couple of years, but when I spoke to him yesterday… I spoke to him over the weekend, the guy is really determined to get back better than ever.”
4. Ben Spencer starts alongside Marcus Smith as England’s halfback pairing
With Alex Mitchell continuing his road to recovery with a neck injury, the door opened up for Steve Borthwick to pick a new player for the nine jersey. After much deliberation due to the high quality of scrum halves in the England camp, Borthwick opted for Bath’s Ben Spencer, to lead the back-line against the All Blacks alongside Marcus Smith in the 10 shirt.
“We’ve got such a competitive position there with so many good nines.” Borthwick added. “Everyone acknowledges that. This was a really tough selection decision because of the quality of the players. Ben has been around the England team for a good period of time – through the Six Nations and through the summer series. He’s spent a good amount of time with us, understanding. I think that’s been a huge benefit.
“Ben is such an experienced player. He’s played so many games in the Premiership and his performance in big games… you saw the way he played in the Premiership Final. I thought he was absolutely outstanding. He’s a guy who knows how to deliver on the biggest of stages and I think that’s important. He’s a calm guy. A leader with his club. He’s played in a lot of big games.”
“Both players (Spencer and Smith), I think tactically have a great understanding of the game. Ben has incredible super strength around his kicking game. His speed of ball from the breakdown has really stepped up as well, which is some Bath and we discussed and I think that’s a big, big step forward in Ben’s game.
“There is also no doubt that Marcus is a player who can unlock defences, he sees space, he finds space and Marcus a player who things happen around him, he attracts defenders to make decisions that they shouldn’t make. I want Marcus to bring all of his X-factor onto the pitch on Saturday.”
5. Sam Underhill out after not getting the enhanced England player squad contract
A notable omission from the squad is that of Sam Underhill, with the back row not included in the entire match day 23. Harlequin Chandler-Cunningham South gets the nod to start on the flanks alongside Tom Curry, with Ben Curry and Alex Dombrandt providing the forward orientated cover from the 6-2 split replacements bench.
It is a double-blow for Underhill after the Bath man was not bestowed an Enhanced England Player Squad contract this past week. Underhill was not named in the 17-man group that were given the elite level contracts, despite featuring frequently in Borthwick’s plans throughout the previous Summer tour of Japan and New Zealand. Despite finding no place for Underhill in the squad this week, Borthwick praised the flanker’s continued road back from ankle surgery.
“So Sam, at the start of the season he had ankle surgery, had two appearances off the bench and one start and in one of those appearances from the bench he didn’t get too much time because there was a sin-bin situation. I chatted to Sam yesterday, I chatted to him as he left the field today, I see a sharpness coming back in Sam’s game, which is just natural.
“When you have an ankle surgery you can’t be on your feet and so much of Sam’s game is that constant work rate, that’s one of his great X-factors in his game, that work rate that he has, that sharpness he has particularly in defence.
“But you’ve all seen his link play in attack develop. I’ve seen even from last week to this week, I’ve seen it step forward, which is great. I think we’ve got some pretty good back row forwards in this squad as well and I’ve all looked at the others and I’ve seen this is a competitive position.”
