Borthwick deserves credit after bold selection for England's Wales test

Yesterday at 04:23 PM

Head coach wants his players to stamp their authority on Saturday's encounter in the Cardiff cauldron

Pick the bones out of that. Four openside flankers in the squad, three fly-halves, just two second-rows and one centre. It does not stop there with a first start on the wing and a debut in waiting on the bench, in Cardiff – a place that has a habit of swallowing up and spitting out fledgling England careers.

On the back of a six-day turnaround, the easy move was to slot Henry Slade back into midfield for the injured Ollie Lawrence and challenge the other 14 who started the victory against Italy last Sunday to go out and do the same against Wales.