Steve Borthwick reflected a touch regretfully at England’s training base on Tuesday about the number of occasions he sat as an unused replacement in the early days of his Test career. In 2003 Borthwick watched from the touchline in Wellington as England’s six-man pack staged a famous goal-line stand in a victory over the All Blacks. Three years earlier he had been a spectator when Dan Luger’s last-gasp try at Twickenham snatched a win for England against Australia.
Rugby has changed enormously. Even in the 2003 World Cup final, a game settled in the final seconds of extra time, Dorian West, Martin Corry and Kyran Bracken remained in their England tracksuits. The bench now has to be a weapon, influencing game strategy and team selection. England are playing catch-up while South Africa have been at the vanguard, deploying the Bomb Squad at the 2019 World Cup and then a 7-1 split between forwards and backs in 2023.
Rassie Erasmus, the Springboks head coach, will frequently hold back his most destructive front row for the second half in the knowledge that no other nation can match them for scrummaging depth. When Ox Nché and Trevor Nyakane came on in the second half of the 2023 World Cup semi-final, England were cooked. The Springboks are now going the other way in their search for bench versatility, with André Esterhuizen, the centre, being deployed as a flanker.
Erasmus’s Bomb Squad set the benchmark when it comes to replacements making an explosive impact
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Borthwick, unusually for the modern game, has not always emptied his bench — but that has largely been a reflection of his lack of trust in those at his disposal to make the required impact in tight games. Theo Dan was a spectator for much of the 2023 World Cup. Harry Randall and Chandler Cunningham-South were unused in a narrow win against France last year. So too Ben Spencer in a defeat by the All Blacks in Dunedin.
On that 2024 summer tour to New Zealand and through the autumn that followed, England developed an infuriating habit of losing tight games. In seven successive defeats by Tier One opponents the average margin was 4.4 points.
It has therefore become a priority for Borthwick to deepen England’s options and to build his own bench brigade. He wants nous and experience on the field at the end.
Consequently, Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Will Stuart have been named on the bench to play Australia. As a trio they are England’s premier front row — but they are among six British & Irish Lions being held back for the second half. Tom Curry, fit again after undergoing wrist surgery, will bolster the back row from the bench and Fin Smith, who has not lost for England when wearing No10, is an option at fly half or to slot in alongside George Ford at inside centre.
“We had a period where we lost a series of games late,” Borthwick said. “If you look at that — the age profile and number of caps on the bench — in Q4 [fourth quarter of the match] we weren’t quite getting over the line.
“You’ve then seen the impact that Jamie George and Elliot Daly had off the bench against France in the Six Nations. There is no doubt that having experience, people who have played together … I see that as a huge asset.
Dan belatedly getting into the action at the 2023 World Cup, during which he was largely a spectator
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“There are periods where you have these tight losses — and we had a number of tight losses. We go through a process of learning how to turn them into wins — and usually they’re tight wins. That experience on the bench is an important factor for those Q4 wins.
“I also believe the team is conditioned in an improved manner, which allows us to keep running. Bench impact is something we’re putting a huge focus on. It’s something that [assistant coach] Kevin Sinfield, in particular, has spent a lot of time working on. The physical, skill and mental prep so that the bench come on and have a big impact for us.”
It is all well and good holding back your gun players for the second half, but you have to still be in the game when they come on. There is no chance Borthwick would have started a Test against the Springboks with Fin Baxter, George and Joe Heyes in his front row. But England have identified Australia as a game in which to shake up their selections, with one eye on the World Cup.
That comes with risk. But the Wallabies do not pose the same 80-minute scrummaging threat, plus they are missing key frontline players in Will Skelton, Len Ikitau, Tom Hooper and James O’Connor with the game being outside of the international window. Starting Baxter and Heyes will advance Borthwick’s mission to reach the 2027 World Cup with four or five props without any significant drop-off in quality.
“I think I’ve picked a team that puts us in a position to get the result we want,” Borthwick said.
Ford brings some valuable nous to the England starting XV for the Autumn Nations Series opener
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With limited preparation time, courtesy of the RFU’s decision to add in the Wallabies Test in place of England’s usual training camp, Borthwick has leant heavily on those who impressed him on tour. In addition to Baxter and Heyes, Guy Pepper will start at blind-side flanker and Sam Underhill at open-side, with Tom Roebuck on the wing and George Ford continuing at fly half.
“Playing Test matches like we did out in Argentina, the experiences and the time together; the senior guys on that tour — Jamie George, George Ford, Henry Slade — they were great with the younger players, accelerating their development,” Borthwick said.
“So it does feel, right now, like we’ve got a competitive squad that’s got depth in it. The number of caps is still not where I’d like it to be, but I project it will be good by the World Cup. Right now we’re still a young side, a young side but their development is accelerating.
“There are a number of factors in selection in the front row. The minutes they’ve played at the start of the season [Genge and Stuart had extra rest post-Lions] but also how well the combinations work together. The combination of Jamie George, Joe Heyes and Fin Baxter worked well in Argentina in the summer. That is an important factor.
“George [Ford] started the season playing really well for Sale, did really well over the summer in Argentina from a performance point of view and also a leadership point of view. I’m looking forward to him keeping that going this weekend.
“That combination in the back row with Sam and Guy, who did so well in Argentina, gives us a strength in that area. Tom Curry has done really well to come back. He looks in fantastic shape but clearly hasn’t played minutes. I thought the right thing to do for him was to be on the bench.”
Curry is expected to start against the All Blacks in England’s third game of the autumn. But Pepper, the Bath flanker, adds to England’s versatility project. Ben Earl, who starts at No8, is now being considered by England to be a potential Test starter at inside centre. Henry Pollock and Pepper are such athletic loose forwards that they are covering back-line positions against the Wallabies.
There is a legitimate debate about whether rugby would be improved by curbing the impact of the bench, whether for safety reasons or because increasing fatigue would lead to more space. But there is no sign of the game going back in time. If England are to win the 2027 World Cup, Borthwick will need his bench to become a weapon he can trust.