Elliot Daly: How England's versatile Saracen rescued the back-line after Ollie Lawrence's injury

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England called upon the undeniable versatility of Elliot Daly this past weekend, as the Saracen moved places in the back-line after just eight minutes against Italy. Daly started at fullback for the fourth round match in the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations, but was shuffled to the centres after Ollie Lawrence’s unfortunate early exit.

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The Bath midfielder was forced out of the fray, as he sustained an Achilles injury that could well write him out of the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia. The Saracen Swiss-army knife adjusted dutifully on the fly, as Marcus Smith took over at fullback for the remaining 72 minutes of the match. Daly expressed after the match how he enjoyed his run in the centres, yet admitted that there were some elements he had to adapt to as the match progressed.

"Definitely. You don't want to see people go off but I just tried to nail my role there, whatever that is, really. There were some starter play stuff that I was learning on the run to make sure I was in the right position, but apart from that, it isn't too different coming from full-back attacking wise."

"We had a mindset today to move the ball. We probably moved the ball too much sometimes, but it's a nice way to be. Our intent was there and to play a part in that was brilliant."

England recieved an assortment of negative reviews, as they did not shine on the attacking foot against Scotland a fortnight ago. Loose-head prop Ellis Genge hit back in the press during England’s fallow week trip to York, with the Bristol Bears star preferring to grind out an ‘uglier’ win, than to lose whilst playing fast-flowing attacking rugby.

England went back to the front-foot drawing board in their two weeks to prepare for Italy, with the intent to play attacking rugby evident against the Azzurri. Daly expressed his delight at how his side rallied into their top gear with a seven-try showcase, even if there were some early missteps. A notable mistake saw Tommy Freeman skip a wayward pass across the deck, yet Daly was on-hand to scoop up the ball and play England out of trouble.

"It's a learning for the group.” Daly explained. “Probably next game we won't throw that pass and be more direct. As I said, the intent to get the ball to space was brilliant today, and we got seven tries on the back of it. A good performance."

"I think we've started to show it in all of the games, but not in an 80-minute performance. That's what we are looking for next weekend."

England have certainly sent their fans home happy from the Allianz Stadium, with Steve Borthwick’s men undefeated in Twickenham throughout the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations. Victories over France, Scotland and Italy has opened the door ajar for a late push for the Six Nations title, yet England need favourable results elsewhere if they are to win their first Championship since 2020.

England of course need to hand Wales a heavy defeat, and hope that Gregor Townsend’s Scotland can get the job done out in Paris. Scotland v France will close out the tournament as the final match of Super Saturday, with the entire England squad expected to be watching the monitors if they secure the victory in Cardiff. Daly expressed how his side are gearing up for a big finish to the tournament, as they head to the Welsh capital later this week.

"You can't really go and win the Six Nations, or try and win the Six Nations, if you don't win your home games. We've done that, which is brilliant. Wales have got a new coach and are playing slightly differently, playing some good rugby. It's going to be a tough one next weekend."

"It's always a tough place to go (Principality Stadium). They always seem to rev up for our game. The rivalry is there. It's always a close game, you never really run away with it. We're looking to build on what we've done today. Obviously, some different challenges next weekend, but we are looking forward to it."

"You go into the game wanting to win the game. As the game goes on, you start to think, 'do we need a bonus point?', or that sort of thing. But if you go with the mindset of, 'we need five tries, we need 30 or 40 points', you won't achieve that. If you go in, like we did today, with the intent to move the ball to space…I think on the back of that today, our defence went up a notch. The attack fuelled our defence today and we went up a notch in both areas."

"100%. It's a massive game. We've put ourselves in the position to put pressure on France now so hopefully we can do that. It's not going to be a given going down there – it's a tough game."

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QUIZ: Can You Name EVERY Player in England’s 2016 Six Nations Grand Slam Squad?

England last won the Six Nations Grand Slam back in 2016, in what was Eddie Jones’ first Championship in charge. Taking over from Stuart Lancaster, Jones appointed a new captain to his side, in what was the start of a record equalising 18-test match winning streak.

Jones named a 33-man squad for the 2016 Six Nations, and we’ve laid out the challenge for you to name each and every one of the players. Due to the extra toughness of this one, we’ve given a slightly longer time limit for you to rattle off the answers.

Your time starts… now!

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