Sir Clive Woodward, the former head coach of the England national team, has lauded Steve Borthwick’s choices, but has disclosed that he would have made two additional alterations.
Borthwick is counting on a revamped central partnership to assist Owen Farrell in breaking through Italy’s defense in the upcoming Six Nations match on Sunday, with Marcus Smith relegated to a reserve role.
DITCHING THE FARRELL-SMITH PARTNERSHIP:
Woodward wrote: “Borthwick’s decision to start Farrell at No 10 for Sunday’s clash with Italy and drop Smith to the bench was absolutely the right one. I applaud him for that.
“At the end of his tenure, Jones seemed wedded to a 10-12 partnership of Smith and Farrell despite it clearly not working.
“Borthwick has drawn a line in the sand by opting for Farrell. I can pay him no higher compliment than to say that’s exactly what I would have done.
“Every English rugby fan has got an opinion on it. I’ve talked until I’ve been blue in the face about the need to play either Smith or Farrell, but not both.
“It is now abundantly clear that Borthwick is not afraid to make big, bold decisions and that is what you need as the head coach of an international team.”
