Unadventurous team will need to improve significantly on multiple fronts if they are to poop France’s potential title party in Paris
So let’s rewind for a moment. Just four weeks ago England had beaten Wales 48-7 in round one and were looking towards Scotland with a collective glint in their eyes. “The message to the players is: go out, move the ball, play fast, play brave,” Steve Borthwick said after announcing a pretty settled side for Murrayfield. “It suits the team we have.”
And now? Not unlike the Ashes cricket series in Australia this winter, the team sheet for the final game of an already torpedoed campaign is a case of too little too late. Similarly to the cult of Bazball, the bell is tolling for the Borthball era. Even if the head coach remains in post, it is inconceivable that England’s tactical approach can remain unchanged.
The snag, of course, is that only so much remedial work is possible in a couple of days on the training field with a battered, downcast squad resigned to being title also-rans. Having tried and failed to shake things up with nine personnel changes last week, Borthwick clearly felt it would be counterproductive to do so again.
Pretty much the same players who came up short against Italy in Rome have been asked, therefore, to dig deep against France. They will be professional about it, but the message it sends to England’s frustrated fans is not particularly upbeat. Ollie Chessum starting at No 6 to bolster the forward effort in an otherwise identical starting XV, employing similarly flat-packed tactical instructions? Pick the inspirational headlines out of that.
