Borthwick challenges England newbies to seize chance ahead of World Cup

Steve Borthwick has urged the new faces in his England team to prove they deserve a place at the World Cup in two years’ time after naming an inexperienced side to take on Argentina in the first Test in La Plata.

While George Ford will win his 100th cap as co-captain alongside fellow centurion Jamie George, there is inevitably a raw look to the squad with 13 England players in Australia on Lions duty following the call-up of Owen Farrell to replace Elliot Daly.

Among them, Seb Atkinson and Will Muir will make their debuts in the backline, while Guy Pepper is the third uncapped player in the squad after being named on the bench.

And eight years after the likes of Sam Underhill, who starts in the back row, and Tom Curry made their debuts against Los Pumas before becoming fixtures in the England squad that reached the World Cup final, Borthwick is hoping to see more players seize a similar chance.

He said: “This summer offers a brilliant opportunity for myself and the coaching team to understand more about the players and a brilliant opportunity for some players to go and stake a claim. We saw what happened in 2017 ahead of the 2019 World Cup where some players on this respective tour put in performances that established themselves as internationals and they then featured in major roles at the 2019 World Cup.

“Argentina went into the Lions [a 28-24 victory in Dublin] as underdogs but they're not that weekend. Everyone is expecting them to win.

“It's a fact [that they're favourites], isn't it? With such a huge number of players on the Lions trip, the context is different. I want my players to step into the Test match arena. Who is going to step up and show they can be Test match animals?

“They're expected to beat us which is not how it was eight years ago. It's going to be hostile, loud and the atmosphere will be electric. Every single battle matters at the World Cup. The scores come down and every inch matters. All these players have been knocking on my door saying ‘I want a chance to play for England’. Now, a number of those are getting the chance.”

Borthwick has made five changes from the team that lost narrowly to a France XV at Allianz Stadium last month, with Muir and Freddie Steward coming into the back three, while up front Underhill, a fit-again Ben Curry and Charlie Ewels are all included.

There is no specialist lock cover on the bench, with Chandler Cunningham-South again fulfilling that role as he did at the end of the Six Nations, and Borthwick explained that he would be happy for the Harlequins back-rower to start at lock in the future.

Meanwhile it is two more Quins players, winger Cadan Murley and No.8 Alex Dombrandt, who have been earmarked as cover if a centre were to go down injured in the game.

Borthwick explained: “Chandler Cunningham-South, I'd be very happy to start him in the second row. He has been working on that and is doing really well. He brings a point of difference in terms of power; English rugby does not have a huge number of players that have that type of size and power. Finding a place for players like that in our 23 is really important.

“Cadan Murley has been training at centre for a period and Alex Dombrandt, too. I talked a lot in the Six Nations how we had been building for a period with players with positional flexibility and Alex offers that.”

Elsewhere, the decision to go with a pair of jackalling options at flanker is a reflection of Argentina’s commitment to the breakdown, with England fighting fire with fire, while Borthwick also noted how much success they enjoyed in the aerial battle in the win over the Lions.

He added: “We know the battle at the breakdown will be fierce. Against Argentina, the Lions had just over 100 rucks and a huge percentage of those were competed at - and hard. We're expecting the breakdown to be fierce.

“That's one of the reasons why I've selected Sam Underhill and Ben Curry with Guy Pepper on the bench. Players like Julián Montoya, who we know is such a great jackal threat competing at the breakdown... you need to have great breakdown skill yourself.”

Finally, on Farrell’s Lions’ call-up – returning to Australia to become one of just five men to play on four Lions Tours – Borthwick paid tribute to his former captain, while making clear that he had not had any conversations with Andy Farrell about this potential scenario.

He said: “There have been no conversations like that (with Farrell senior). I'm delighted Owen has been picked - his fourth Lions tour. He won in Australia in 2013 and has incredible pedigree. Congratulations to him and as ever I wish him well but, no, that conversation never happened.”

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