As England head for Cardiff in their pursuit of their first Six Nations title since 2020, it seems that, if nothing else, they will not die wondering.
You have to go back to the Covid-impacted tournament five years ago for the last time England went into “Super Saturday” (an adjective you would have been pushed to use in those behind-closed-doors times) with a shot at glory.
Eddie Jones’s side did what was required with a bonus-point win against Italy, as Ireland’s bid ended with a defeat by France in Paris. This time it is Steve Borthwick’s side who face the long odds. France are heavy favourites to clinch the title with a victory over Scotland at the Stade de France in the final game on Saturday.
But in attempting to ramp up the pressure on Fabien Galthié’s side beforehand by chasing a bonus-point win over Wales, Borthwick has thrown caution to the wind in what is easily the most front-footed selection of his tenure.
A positional check of the make-up of the England 23-man squad to face Wales is revealing: it contains four opensides, three wings (just about), three fly-halves, just two locks and one centre.
Delve deeper into the selection and the reasons behind it, we find a touch of desperate pragmatism and a ruthless instinct to go for the jugular.
The pragmatism is required because of the concerning lack of midfielders who can match the ball-carrying power of Ollie Lawrence, whose season has come to a cruelly premature end with the Achilles injury he sustained in the victory over Italy. To counter that, Borthwick has switched Tommy Freeman, who is 6ft 3in and weighs 16st 3lb, from the right wing to outside centre.
Borthwick has been eyeing the 24-year-old as a potential option at 13 for some time and, crucially, he has played there on more than 10 occasions for his club Northampton Saints.
“With his athleticism, the ground he covers and the power he brings in the carry, he has always been that option. Now he has grown over the last 18 months, he’s grown to be a formidable Test player,” Borthwick said.
The switch also has the benefit of maintaining the cohesion that the England head coach craves, given that his midfield partner is Freeman’s clubmate, Fraser Dingwall, and inside him are fellow Saints, Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith.
Mitchell may be the only back to have started in each of the five games, but while injuries and form have prompted some tinkering, the sense of togetherness of the back line appears strong.
The boldness of the call is backed up by the selection of Freeman’s replacement, Tom Roebuck, another big winger who has broadened his attacking game beyond being a strong aerial competitor. But that strength in the air is also seen by Borthwick as a counter to Wales’s penchant for fly-half Gareth Anscombe to sit back and launch cross-field kicks following Matt Sherratt’s appointment as Warren Gatland’s successor.
“I think the high ball work is a point of difference for him,” Borthwick said of Roebuck, who will win his fourth cap. “His other point of difference is his carry. I want him to get as many carries as he can, and I want him to carry as strongly and aggressively as he can. He is a big winger, and he’s got pace. I want to see that this weekend.”
Roebuck’s promotion paves the way for the intriguing return of Marcus Smith at full-back, with Elliot Daly, picked to play at 15 against Italy, switching to the left wing. The move gives England a left-footed kicking option and enhances the broken-field attacking threat.
The return of George Ford to the bench further adds to England’s playmaker strengths. The Sale fly-half has had to be a patient onlooker so far during this championship, but he can now expect a daring cameo, with Fin Smith switching to inside centre in a similar fashion to how Owen Farrell was deployed in a 10-12 role.
Borthwick knows that England’s title chances are utterly dependent on securing a four-try bonus point and running up a significant points difference.
Which brings us to the selection of four opensides – three in the starting back row, with Ben Curry joining twin brother Tom on the flanks, Ben Earl dropping back to No 8 and Tom Willis taking a place on the bench. Among the six forwards on the bench is the other stand-out selection, Henry Pollock, who by sheer force of nature has forced himself into contention via his performances for England Under-20s.
It demonstrates that Borthwick is prepared to fast-track the burgeoning talent of the red rose age-group side, and in going for electric pace and breakdown menace in four of his six back-row forwards, he is clearly targeting one of Wales’s areas of strength, given the form of their two flankers, Jac Morgan and Tommy Reffell.
That has left him with just two recognised locks, and captain Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum are likely to be asked to play the full 80 minutes, but it exposes England if injury strikes. The same applies to the midfield, where Borthwick declared his back-up centre to be Earl.
It is a high-risk selection picked with a specific job to do, and one that you suspect Borthwick would not consider if his side were travelling to Paris or Dublin. But for the first time in five years, England are chasing silverware. The dice, gloriously, has been rolled.
