The Breakdown | England need to unearth World Cup core despite derby friction and injury chaos

Nations Championship games against Australia and Japan should be the end of experimentation for Steve Borthwick Even on the most serene days no one would describe coaching England as a relaxing gig. With his side’s opening November Test looming on Sunday week, Steve Borthwick is

Nations Championship games against Australia and Japan should be the end of experimentation for Steve Borthwick Even on the most serene days no one would describe coaching England as a relaxing gig. With his side’s opening November Test looming on Sunday week, Steve Borthwick is already faced with assorted injury-related complications at precisely the moment he needs to start finding lasting answers to a range of fundamental selection questions. The untimely training field absence of Fin Smith, pencilled in to be England’s starting No 10, is a prime example.

With the two leading midfield candidates to face Australia – Seb Atkinson and Bernhard Janse van Rensburg – also unable to train this week, Smith’s calf injury has materialised at the worst possible moment. Add the Bath flanker Guy Pepper, who limped off against Gloucester last Friday, and suddenly there is a hint of pre-Halloween gloom hanging over England’s preparations. Continue reading...