Steve Borthwick has been buoyed by Alex Mitchell’s surprise return to fitness for Saturday’s clash with Italy and has carried out the biggest overhaul of England’s Six Nations in 12 years, naming five unmatched players to his playing squad.
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However, Harlequins midfielder Marcus Smith, who suffered a calf injury earlier in the week, has been sent home and has also already been ruled out of the match against Wales. He will return to England and carry out further investigations, the head coach said.
“He won’t be here next week. We don’t know exactly when, but we expect it to take a few weeks. Hopefully he will play in the later part of the Six Nations. We’ll know more next week.”
Borthwick included Northampton center Fraser Dingwall and New Zealand native Ethan Roots in his starting line-up, with Immanuel Fahey-Waboso, Fin Smith and Chandler Cunningham-South on the bench. All five eligible to play for other countries, but all will captured by England if they take the field.
Mitchell expected to leave the team after missing Monday and Tuesday’s practices with an infected leg wound. However, he attended England training on Thursday and deemed fit to take his place in the scrum-half.
High Turnover of Caps for New England Six Nations Squad:
Alex trained individually yesterday, the team didn’t train – he trained – and today he trained fully with the team, Borthwick said. [Alex] is a player who played a lot of minutes for us during the World Cup and a lot of minutes for his club, so I see a guy who is sharp and ready to play.
New England’s five caps will be the highest-scoring Six Nations since Stuart Lancaster picked seven debutants for his first match in charge in 2012 against Scotland, according to rugby statistician Russ Petty. Borthwick said he had not planned such an overhaul, but with injuries, the absence of Owen Farrell, the departures of Courtney Lawes and Jonny May, and a number of players moving into the French top 14, he turned to new blood.
Dingwall has capped by nine England caps without ever winning a cap, but Roots, who represented the Maori All Blacks in 2020, is in his first Premier League season with Exeter, while Fahey Waboso and Fin Smith are both 21, while Cunningham-South, who was born in Sidcup but grew up in New Zealand, is just 20. In contrast, captain Jamie George, vice-captains Maro Itoje and Ellis Genge, and George Ford, Joe Marler and Danny Care contributed nearly 500 caps [494] between them.
Guinness Six Nations 2024 – Talented Newcomers Earned Their Place:
“There are five new players in the team, and each of these guys has earned their place. Each one of them is a tremendous young player, Borthwick said. I didn’t think I would name 23 players with five debutants, but it’s definitely a talented group of players that I want to put together, a talented group that will take the field and begin their international journeys. For me this is a great sign for the further development of English rugby.”
Roots’ rise to the England Six Nations team has meteoric given that just a few years ago he work in construction and dreaming of becoming an MMA fighter. He’s a guy who joined the Crusaders, joined the Ospreys and then left there and joined Exeter, Borthwick said. This is a determined person. I really impressed with his physicality, his energy, his work rate. But also, his maturity. The way he stepped into that environment was impeccable.
His Exeter teammate Fahey-Waboso played for Taunton Titans less than 12 months ago. “He has incredible ability,” Borthwick said. We know a little more about him now: having been in camp the last week or so, his speed and power stats are excellent. Truly top class. He has natural ability that we want to use in our game, bring his speed and power to the game. You can also read Six Nations 2024 Opener – Italy Vs England Preview & Predictions.
Six Nations – Mitchell’s Availability a Significant Bonus:
Mitchell’s availability is a significant bonus for England, whose week has significantly disrupted by injury. It is understood Marcus Smith expected to start in midfield before he went down with a calf injury on Monday, and Fin Smith is believed to have been provisionally in pole position for the number 10 jersey, but had questions about Mitchell, his Northampton midfielder partner, Borthwick ultimately chose Ford. [Fly-half] is one of the positions that is incredibly competitive, he said.
“We had three players, although Marcus was injured this week, and they were all competitive and very talented players. Especially with Fin, I think he’s a guy made for Test match conditions with his composure and toughness. I have no doubt that when he makes his debut he will do very well.”
Six Nations 2024: England captain Jamie George wants ‘intensity’ in curtain-raiser against Italy
Guinness Six Nations: Italy v England
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Date: Saturday, 3 February Kick-off: 14:15 GMT
This is the new England and Jamie George has made his ambitions clear ahead of his first Six Nations game as captain. England won a bronze medal at the World Cup last year but often criticized for their style of play and pragmatic kicking.
George will lead his men for the first time against Italy on Saturday, with the chance to end England’s woeful run of first-round defeats in the last four of the Six Nations. The visitors will be favorites to extend their perfect record against the Azzurri, but George wants the game to live up to the traveling “white wall” of English fans expected in Italy.
There are certain things we want to achieve in attack, defense and kicking, but we want to play with an intensity that we haven’t played with before, George told BBC Sport. We want to put pressure on teams on both sides of the ball. There a lot of talk about the style of play we played at the World Cup and [attack coach] Richard Wigglesworth incredible in terms of organizing our attack.
The way we’ve taken this on and tried to express ourselves, I know we can make it happen on Saturday. We truly want a connection with the fans and we will have a white wall in Rome who we can handle, inspire and delight and get out of your seats.
“It requires a certain type of game. I’m not saying we’re going to throw the ball here, there and everywhere, but you’ll see a lot of fight and character and a team that’s trying to push the opposition.”
Six Nations – George Named Captain After Farrell’s Withdrawal:
George, who named captain after Owen Farrell withdrew from selection, and his senior teammates will supported in their bid to up the ante by a host of young talent. Experienced hooker and vice-captain George Ford, veteran prop Joe Marler, lock Maro Itoje and winger Elliot Daly all remain, but five players could make their Test debuts.
Flanker Ethan Roots and center Fraser Dingwall will win their first caps from the start, while midfielder Fin Smith, forward Immanuel Fahey-Waboso and flanker Chandler Cunningham-South could all come off the bench.
George added: We have five potential new players and they have all been fantastic this week. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team with this kind of mentality at the start of a campaign in terms of how quickly they wanted to learn, make a plan and put it into action.
Head coach Steve Borthwick also wants his side to “develop” as they look to challenge pre-tournament favorites Ireland and France. This is a group of players both experience and new for Test rugby.
“I never thought I would name five new players in a squad of 23 players and we really want to attack this game. We want to develop and add variety to our game and I want the players to play with intensity and fight on the field.”
Six Nations – Azzurri buying into ‘new methodologies’
Italy started their World Cup campaign with two wins in their first two games, but then capitulated against New Zealand and France. The Azzurri conceded 96 points in defeat to the All Blacks and then scored a further 60 points against the hosts.
Before Ange Capuozzo’s late withdrawal from the opening match against England, 11 players retained their places in the squad after the defeat by France. The big changes are coming from the bench, with former Argentina midfielder Gonzalo Quesada replacing Kieran Crowley as head coach. Italy won the Wooden Spoon last year and have never beaten England, but Quesada says his players have adapted quickly to the introduction of his “new techniques”.
“We know England will put a lot of pressure on us. Not everything we do will be perfect because of the little time we have together, but the preparation for the match was good, Quesada said.”
What is certain is that we will see an Italian team with extraordinary will, passion and desire to succeed. Lock Federico Ruzza is set win his 50th cap while the Garbisi brothers – half-back Paolo and scrum-half Alessandro – starting a Test match together for the first time. However, losing exciting striker Capuozzo to illness will be a blow for the hosts as they look to give Quesada’s reign a boost with a first win over England.
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