'Henry Pollock's debut' – Makers & Breakers: England team to play Wales

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England head coach Steve Borthwick has named his squad to play Wales, in the final round of the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations. England are within the running for their first Six Nations title since 2020, yet need a bonus point win in Cardiff, as well as for other results to got their way on Super Saturday.

Find your local Greene King and settle in to the Six Nations!

England will be donning their tartan for the final hours of Saturday evening, as long as they get the job done against Wales. Should Scotland then secure an away win over France, England will be crowned Six Nations champions for the first time in five years. Borthwick has made some interesting changes to his team, with an uncapped bolter ready to explode off the bench.

ENGLAND TEAM TO PLAY WALES: 2025 GUINNESS MEN’S SIX NATIONS ROUND 5

15. Marcus Smith 14. Tom Roebuck 13. Tommy Freeman 12. Fraser Dingwall 11. Elliot Daly 10. Fin Smith 9. Alex Mitchell 1. Ellis Genge 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie 3. Will Stuart 4. Maro Itoje 5. Ollie Chessum 6. Tom Curry 7. Ben Curry 8. Ben Earl

16. Jamie George 17. Fin Baxter18. Joe Heyes 19. Chandler Cunningham-South 20. Henry Pollock 21. Tom Willis 22. Jack van Poortvliet 23. George Ford

With four changes from the side that beat Italy, and three changes to positions from the retained players, there is plenty to dissect from the latest squad announcement. Here are the five makers and breakers, from the last England match day squad for the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations.

1. Maker: Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)

1. Breaker: Ted Hill (Bath Rugby)

There is an exciting call-up within Steve Borthwick’s squad, as uncapped back row talent Henry Pollock gets set to make his senior England Test debut this Saturday. Pollock has been in phenomenal form for Northampton Saints, since he first rose to prominence in the green, black and gold throughout the 2023/24 Premiership season.

Pollock was a pivotal player in the England U20s side, that won the 2024 U20 Six Nations and World Championship double. The back row progressed on into the England A squad this past November, with a stunning Player of the Match performance against Australia A optimising his meteoric rise through the ranks. Now, at just 20-years-old, Pollock gets ready to make his senior England debut with the Six Nations title on the line, in front of a hostile Welsh crowd at the Principality Stadium. No pressure.

Pollock takes the place of Ted Hill on the England replacements bench, with the Bath man dropped from the match day squad after back-to-back caps. Hill had a solid second half run-out against Scotland a fortnight ago, yet Borthwick has decided to unleash his uncapped wonder-kid in the last match of the campaign. It’s an interesting call for Borthwick to not include any replacement locks on the bench, with a back row trio of Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Willis and Pollock rounding off the loose forwards.

2. Maker Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)

2. Breaker: Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints)

There is an interesting omission from the England back-three, as Ollie Sleightholme gets dropped from the entire match day squad. The Northampton Saints wing was in tremendous form against Italy, as he crossed over for two tries, with his first score being a fine showcase of his world-class pace. Sleightholme started the trio of home Test wins over France, Scotland and Italy, as he stepped up to the injury vacancy left by Cadan Murley after round one’s defeat in Dublin.

The move looks to be a purely tactical one from the England head coach, as there are no injuries to report in regards to Sleightholme’s exclusion. In his place is Sale Sharks wing Tom Roebuck, who has not played for England since the 2024 Autumn Nations Series win over Japan. Roebuck scored his first England try in the win over Eddie Jones’ Brave Blossoms, and is out to double his Test match tally this Saturday at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

3. Maker: Marcus Smith (Harlequins)

3. Breaker: Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby)

The third change to the England team sees Marcus Smith make his return to the starting line-up, after he was dropped to the bench for the fourth round match against Italy. It took just eight minutes until Smith exploded off the bench as the replacement fullback, yet the early entry was to the detriment of a severe injury to centre Ollie Lawrence.

Lawrence suffered an Achilles injury this past Sunday, as he collapsed untouched when England ran an attacking strike move. It was difficult viewing for England, Bath and British & Irish Lions fans alike, as the injury could well write the midfielder out for the rest of the 2024/25 season. The back-line butterfly effect caused starting fullback Elliot Daly to move to centre, with Smith introduced to the back-field. Borthwick will start both Daly and Smith in this week, yet Daly moves to the wing in the push towards the title.

4. Makers: Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)

4. Breakers: Tom Willis (Saracens)

The Curry twins are back together in the starting XV once again, with Ben brought up from the bench to start on the open-side flank in Cardiff. Ben Curry starts with his twin brother Tom in the back row, with Saracen bruiser Ben Earl rounding off the squad at number eight. Ben Curry last started for England in the opening round of the Six Nations, where he ran out for a solid hour long showing against Ireland.

Tom Willis misses out on a starting place, despite impressing all onlookers throughout his three previous starts at the back of the England scrum. Despite dropping back to the bench for the first time since the opening round trip to Dublin, Willis is set to rack up his fifth cap in the tournament in what has been a break-out run for the Saracen. Willis’ fast-tracked run with the England team continues this week, in what has been quite the storied run for the former Wasps and Bordeaux-Begles man.

5. Makers: George Ford (Sale Sharks)

5. Breakers: Harry Randall (Bristol Bears)

There is a unique possibility for all three of England’s fly halves to be on the pitch at the same time, as George Ford is named in a Six Nations squad for the first time this tournament. Steve Borthwick has confirmed Fin Smith as a possible inside centre option, with Marcus Smith set to start at fullback once again. Ford comes onto the bench in the number 23 shirt, with the Sale man’s due diligence paying off, after biding his time amongst the non-playing squad.

There is no place in the final England squad of the Six Nations for Harry Randall, as Jack van Poortvleit gets the nod to be the replacement scrum half. Randall took up the replacement nine mantle for the first three rounds of the competition, yet was unable to loosen up Alex Mitchell’s grip on the starting shirt. The Bristol Bears man was replaced by Jack van Poortvleit in the fourth round win over Italy, with the Leicester Tigers halfback again named as England’s replacement nine.

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