{"id":430589,"date":"2026-02-17T15:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/430589\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T15:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:17:13","slug":"sir-clive-woodward-steve-borthwick-must-pick-fin-smith-at-10-to-get-the-attack-going-yes-george-ford-can-kick-but-if-thats-all-england-want-to-do-they-should-go-play-aussie-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/430589\/","title":{"rendered":"SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Steve Borthwick must pick Fin Smith at 10 to get the attack going. Yes, George Ford can kick but if that’s all England want to do, they should go play Aussie Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

After more in-depth analysis of England\u2019s defeat by Scotland, I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that the performance in Edinburgh<\/a> was simply not acceptable.<\/p>\n

Steve Borthwick<\/a>\u2019s side have to make a big statement in response and Henry Pollock is the man to be at the centre of it. I would 100 per cent start him against Ireland.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a big call on George Ford<\/a>, but I would also replace him with Fin Smith. It\u2019s all very well saying Ford has a great kicking game and he does. But rugby is about more than just kicking. If England only want to kick and chase then they may as well just play Aussie Rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I have seen so much talk about England kicking to compete and win back possession. Statistics seem to dominate that narrative. But coaching has to be about more than just numbers and there\u2019s no doubt that tactic didn\u2019t work at the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019d give Fin Smith the keys to No 10 for Ireland and tell him to get England\u2019s attack moving. <\/p>\n

England need some X-Factor players in their side and Pollock undoubtedly provides that in spades. Pollock has won all of his seven caps to date as a replacement, but I think England\u2019s mantra of having their best players on the bench caught up with them at Murrayfield.<\/p>\n

\"No <\/p>\n

No 10 George Ford has a great kicking game but there has to be more to an England performance than that<\/p>\n

\"Fin <\/p>\n

Fin Smith should be given the keys to No 10 for England and tasked with getting the attacking game flowing\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now is the time to unleash Pollock from the off. England are badly missing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso on the wing. Like Pollock, he is an X-Factor player. England kicked, kicked and kicked in Edinburgh but it didn\u2019t work. I want to see this England team run and Pollock is a player who can bring that to the team.<\/p>\n

I also think if he\u2019s given the responsibility of starting a game, it will calm him down and he will thrive.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d bring Pollock in for Sam Underhill and George Furbank for Freddie Steward at full-back. In an ideal world, I\u2019d pick Feyi-Waboso and Adam Radwan as my wings, but both are unfortunately injured, so it looks like Tom Roebuck and Henry Arundell \u2013 if he avoids a ban \u2013 will have to stay in place.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think Arundell should be suspended for what it\u2019s worth. His dismissal but no ban would be sufficient punishment for his two yellow cards.<\/p>\n

Lots of players have lots to prove this weekend. Maro Itoje had his poorest game for England in Edinburgh, so I\u2019m expecting a big response from him. The same goes for Ellis Genge.<\/p>\n

At the start of the tournament, I picked Seb Atkinson and Tommy Freeman as my centres and I\u2019m sticking with that. England used Freeman wrongly in Edinburgh. He is not a crash-ball midfielder. England have to give him the ball in space, not use him as a battering ram. I expect a statement performance from England this weekend.<\/p>\n

Changes are needed and it\u2019s time to get back to winning ways with a bang.<\/p>\n

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD’S ENGLAND TEAM TO FACE IRELAND:\u00a0Furbank; Roebuck, Freeman, Atkinson, Arundell; F Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Heyes, Itoje (capt), Chessum, Pepper, Pollock, Earl.<\/p>\n

\"England <\/p>\n

England used Tommy Freeman wrongly in Edinburgh. He is not a crash-ball midfielder. England have to give him the ball in space, not use him as a battering ram<\/p>\n

\"I <\/p>\n

I want to see this England team run and Henry Pollock is a player who can bring that to the team. If he\u2019s given the responsibility of starting, it will calm him down and he will thrive<\/p>\n

By ALEX BYWATER\u00a0(Daily Mail Sport rugby writer)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Steve Borthwick won\u2019t throw the baby out with the bathwater just because his England team have had one disappointing performance and a defeat. He consistently emphasises the importance of staying on a level playing field.<\/p>\n

As such, wholesale changes for Ireland on Saturday are unlikely. That said, there are some rotations I would make and it is important to note that going into a third straight Six Nations game in as many weeks for the first time, Borthwick might decide fresh legs are needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Borthwick will be loath to move Tommy Freeman back to the wing from centre, but he might have to if Henry Arundell is banned following his sending-off in the Scotland defeat. Regardless of what happens to Arundell, I would play Freeman on one wing and bring in what I\u2019m sure will be a very hungry Ollie Lawrence into the midfield.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sam Underhill didn\u2019t get going in Edinburgh. I totally understand why Henry Pollock should start in a white shirt for the first time and I would bring either him or Tom Curry into the starting XV with the other in reserve. It doesn\u2019t matter which way round to me.<\/p>\n

\"George <\/p>\n

George Furbank could come back into the England team at full-back for the Ireland clash<\/p>\n

So long as George Furbank is fit, I\u2019d replace Freddie Steward with the Northampton man at full-back and bring back the experience and leadership of Jamie George. Otherwise, England\u2019s senior figures such as George Ford, Ellis Genge and Maro Itoje need to respond in the right way. They all have huge amounts of credit in the bank so dropping them after one poor performance would be unfair.<\/p>\n

ALEX BYWATER’S ENGLAND TEAM TO FACE IRELAND:\u00a0Furbank; Freeman, Lawrence, Dingwall, Arundell\/Elliot Daly; Ford, Mitchell; Genge, George, Heyes, Itoje (capt), Chessum, Pepper, Pollock, Earl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After more in-depth analysis of England\u2019s defeat by Scotland, I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that the performance in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[97,23784,5903,23783,43326,217,101,5831,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-430589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-england-rugby","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-rugbyunion","12":"tag-six-nations","13":"tag-sport","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-steve-borthwick","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}