Category: England Rugby

• England require back-line reshuffle after several injuries

• Kevin Sinfield says collaboration with clubs will be key

England need to find a talented understudy for their injured star wing Manny Feyi-Waboso, and are poised to invite Gloucester’s Will Joseph to audition for a ­leading role against Japan on Saturday. The latter was a travelling reserve for last ­weekend’s Australia game and appears set for a Test recall four years after being given his debut by the current Brave ­Blossoms head coach, Eddie Jones.

The 24-year-old Joseph, whose brother Jonathan was a regular in England’s midfield for years, has been in outstanding club form and, as things stand, seems likely to ­feature in some capacity with injuries ­forcing Steve Borthwick to reconsider the backline blend that prospered against the Wallabies.

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• Wing Feyi-Waboso sustained ankle injury on Sunday

• Tom Curry out for rest of November with hip injury

England have been rocked by multiple injury blows after Immanuel Feyi‑Waboso and Tom Curry were ruled out of the rest of their autumn campaign. George Furbank, Ollie Chessum and Seb Atkinson are also expected to miss the clash with Japan on Saturday, with the two-try hero Henry Pollock in line for a rare start in a much-changed XV.

Feyi-Waboso sustained an ankle injury in the first half of the 45-22 victory against Australia on Sunday and will miss games against Japan, New Zealand and England’s match on finals weekend. Tom Curry, who sustained a hip injury while ­training last week, is also out for the rest of November.

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Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman and George Furbank can make an impact at the World Cup next year, providing they can stay fit

Rugby, at its heart, is a simple game. Win the collisions and you’ll more than likely win the match. Rule the skies, own the floor and the chances are you’ll end up on the right side of the ledger. Put square pegs in square holes and you can achieve the sort of attacking fluidity required for a record score against Australia. The complicated bit, once you stop trying to put them in round holes, is keeping those square pegs fit.

England’s emphatic win against the Wallabies on Sunday was the first time in two years Borthwick has been able to field a back three of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman and George Furbank. It was also the first time they have lined up with 11, 14 and 15 on their respective backs.

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Sunday’s hosts need to stop looking for excuses and focus on what they can control to kick off the Nations Championsip against battle-hardened Australia

Several things are increasingly guaranteed from an English rugby perspective around this time of year. Bang on cue the injury news and the weather both start to worsen. Cracks in the relationship between the players and their head coach, in this case Steve Borthwick, begin to surface. And as the crowds stream up from Twickenham railway station past the biltong and burger stalls, no one has much idea what to expect.

This year it has been the same old story. Particularly on the injury front. If Tom Curry, Alex Mitchell and Archie McParland had not all been hurt on the Bagshot training pitch, all three would probably be in England’s matchday 23. With Guy Pepper, Benhard van Rensburg, Sam Underhill, Kepu Tuipulotu and Chandler Cunningham-South also out of the running, the squad is not quite as fizzing with energy and dynamism as it might be.

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• Maro Itoje captains England after missing summer Tests

• Concerns Tom Curry may miss all Nations Championship

Fin Smith has successfully come through his final fitness Test to be named at fly-half for England’s autumn opener against Australia while Ben Curry is selected at openside flanker for the first time since the summer of 2025.

Steve Borthwick has made four changes to the side that beat Argentina in July with George Furbank also coming in at fullback, Maro Itoje returning to captain the side and Fin Baxter getting the nod at loosehead prop. The Exeter back-row Greg Fisilau is in line for a debut from the bench.

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• RFU chief Bill Sweeney offers full support to Borthwick

• England boosted by fly-half Fin Smith returning to training

Steve Borthwick has been given the Rugby Football Union’s ­unequivocal backing to lead England into next year’s World Cup even if the side flop this autumn.

In September Borthwick’s contract was extended to after the 2028 Six Nations, despite England’s worst ever Six Nations performance this year, to avoid speculation in the buildup to next year’s tournament. But the head coach remains under pressure on the back of five defeats in the last seven matches.

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• Smith’s calf injury to be tested in training on Wednesday

• Alex Mitchell ruled out of Nations Championship finals

Fin Smith faces a make-or-break training session on Wednesday to prove his fitness for the No 10 jersey in England’s autumn opener against Australia on Sunday, amid cautious optimism the Northampton playmaker will come through unscathed.

Smith sustained a calf injury in Northampton’s derby defeat by Leicester last month and the England head coach, Steve Borthwick, has been sweating on his fitness ever since. Smith’s Northampton half-back partner, Alex Mitchell, meanwhile, has been ruled out of England’s entire autumn campaign owing to his latest hamstring injury.

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• Scrum-half out of game against Australia on Sunday

• Wallabies match followed by New Zealand and Japan

The Northampton scrum-half Alex Mitchell has been ruled out of England’s November opener against Australia on Sunday, with Bristol’s Harry Randall and Bath’s Ben Spencer called into the squad named by the head coach, Steve Borthwick.

Mitchell, established as the first‑choice No 9 under Borthwick, damaged a hamstring in Northampton’s Prem win against Gloucester on Saturday and will have a scan on Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury.

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• Bath flanker Pepper injured ankle at Gloucester on Friday

• Bristol’s Van Rensburg advised to rest after two concussions

England’s head coach, Steve Borthwick, said he will be monitoring this weekend’s domestic Prem games with some trepidation. Already he has lost at least two potentially key squad members for the entire autumn period in the form of Guy Pepper and Benhard van Rensburg, with doubts still hanging over his first-choice fly-half, Fin Smith, and fresh injury uncertainty emerging on virtually a daily basis.

Pepper’s involvement always looked improbable from the moment he sustained a nasty-looking ankle injury against Gloucester last Friday. The young Bath flanker will be sidelined for several weeks, as will the Bristol centre Van Rensburg who has been advised to rest and recuperate after two heavy concussions within the past three months.

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Nations Championship games against Australia and Japan should be the end of experimentation for Steve Borthwick

Even on the most serene days no one would describe coaching England as a relaxing gig. With his side’s opening November Test looming on Sunday week, Steve Borthwick is already faced with assorted injury-related complications at precisely the moment he needs to start finding lasting answers to a range of fundamental selection questions.

The untimely training field absence of Fin Smith, pencilled in to be England’s starting No 10, is a prime example. With the two leading midfield candidates to face Australia – Seb Atkinson and Bernhard Janse van Rensburg – also unable to train this week, Smith’s calf injury has materialised at the worst possible moment. Add the Bath flanker Guy Pepper, who limped off against Gloucester last Friday, and suddenly there is a hint of pre-Halloween gloom hanging over England’s preparations.

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• Borthwick responds by calling up Charlie Atkinson

• Guy Pepper and Benhard van Rensburg also doubts

England are fretting over the fitness of the fly-half Fin Smith in the lead-up to the Nations Championship home opener against Australia on 8 November. The Northampton player ­damaged a calf in the second half against Leicester on Saturday and will be unable to join the national squad who have a three-day training camp in Bagshot this week.

Losing Smith so close to the ­Wallabies game would be a significant blow given the 24-year-old started at 10 in all three of England’s Tests in July and was instrumental in Saints’ domestic title triumph last season.

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• Sale centre returns after ending his two-year spell in France

• Gloucester’s Will Joseph also in Steve Borthwick’s 36-man squad

Joe Marchant has been recalled to England’s training squad for next month’s Nations Championship as Steve Borthwick faces injury disruption to his midfield options.

Marchant receives his first England call-up since the 2023 World Cup after his two-year spell at Stade Français ended with his return to the Gallagher Prem with Sale this season, making him available for selection once again.

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Scoring spree will be forgotten at the Rugby World Cup, and a return for Courtney Lawes may hint at coach’s thinking

It says much about Steve Borthwick’s approach to England’s coming autumn campaign that he is due to name his training squad within minutes of the full-time whistle at Harlequins on Sunday. Simply put, there is no time to waste.

Borthwick will have his squad for only a couple of days after the Prem’s derby weekend before they return to their clubs for a domestic fixture. In years gone by there was an extra week with the players but this time, as 12 months ago, Borthwick’s preparations are truncated.

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• Captain will resist lure of big-money move to France

• ‘Maro is everything we want at the club – a brilliant leader’

Maro Itoje has reaffirmed his long‑term commitment to England, rejecting interest from France by agreeing a new deal with Saracens.

Itoje’s existing deal, signed in 2024, was due to expire after the World Cup next year but he has agreed terms with his club despite interest from Top 14 sides. A move to either Perpignan or Bordeaux had been mooted but the 31-year-old is to commit his future to the club he first represented in 2013 with a new deal, believed to be until 2029.

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Bordeaux No 8 takes on Gloucester in Champions Cup to underline hole he will leave Borthwick for the World Cup

Swines are swirling above Twickenham, the cows have returned to their roots and hell is an icy sub-zero. Steve Borthwick has been given a free pass to pick one player based outside England. The consensus is that Jack Willis – Toulouse captain and two‑time Top 14 player of the season – would be the obvious choice. The smart money, however, would be on Borthwick picking brother Tom in a flash.

For clarity, this is not going to happen. It is not World Cup season without a cause celebre but the reality is that you, dear reader, have more chance of selection. Still, the story of the younger Willis warrants re-examining. Firstly because his decision to head for France after receiving an enhanced contract was unprecedented. Secondly because for Bordeaux he is pulling up trees, forests and anything else in his way this season. England’s No 8 depth is shallow and Willis is the type of player Borthwick would give his right arm for. After Bordeaux have begun their Champions Cup defence at Gloucester on Friday, chances are his left too.

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