- The visitors’ pack struggled once again against a dominant New Zealand side
- Borthwick has said England has ‘to develop at tighthead’ if they want to progress
Steve Borthwick will launch an urgent mission to fast track the next generation of formidable England props, after scrum trouble here contributed to a 2-0 series loss against New Zealand.
Speaking the morning after his side had slipped to a 24-17 defeat at Eden Park, the national coach identified the set piece as an area of significant concern.
The visitors’ pack struggled again as the All Blacks capitalised on dominance in that critical area, and Borthwick will have to wait to discover if Dan Cole intends to play on at Test level, aged 37, in the knowledge that his front-row stocks have become chronically imbalanced.
‘The England pack has changed from what was traditionally a very big powerful pack to more of a younger, dynamic pack,’ said Borthwick.
‘We have to bring some players through there. Clearly, we have to develop at tighthead. That’s one area we have to look at. You saw yesterday that the scrum was under pressure, so that’s an area we have to improve.
Steve Borthwick will launch an urgent mission to fast track the next generation of England props
The visitors’ pack struggled again as the All Blacks capitalised on dominance in that area
‘I’ll have a conversation with Coley in due course and see what he wants to do. But, clearly, we need to find more tightheads. If you look at the loosehead side – the people who weren’t here; Ellis Genge, Beno Obano… Joe Marler missed the last Test, Fin Baxter, Bevan Rodd – we have competition.
‘We don’t quite have that on the other side of the scrum. That’s going to be a big development project for myself and Tom Harrison (England scrum coach).’
Assessing the impact of Bath tighthead, Will Stuart, there was a pointed response from Borthwick, who added: ‘Outside the scrum, he did many things very well.’ England know that they cannot take on the world’s pre-eminent sides if they do not have greater set-piece clout.
The conundrum for the head coach now is whether to persist with the likes of Stuart and Leicester’s Joe Heyes, or turn to a crop of rookie props in the Under 20s set-up. Sale’s Asher Opoku-Fordjour can play on either side of the front row, while Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester) and Billy Sela (Bath) are others who could come through to challenge for the Test No 3 shirt in due course.
Cole has provided vital stability, continuity and experience since being coaxed out of Test retirement by Borthwick, but now he has to consider whether he wants to play on.
Asked about his future, he said: ‘I don’t know, we will see. As I said to Steve, I’m on day to day. If I can get through training I’ll do the next day and keep doing day to day. So, we’ll go home and we’ll see.’
‘The England pack has changed from what was traditionally a very big powerful pack to more of a younger, dynamic pack,’ said Borthwick
Meanwhile, Borthwick admitted that he also faces a selection dilemma later this year in relation to the choice of starting No 10. Marcus Smith wore that coveted shirt in all three Tests on this tour, but George Ford is destined to be available about in the autumn and the head coach still has him in mind, although with both Smiths – Marcus and Fin.
‘When George Ford is fully fit, we have three incredible fly-halves,’ said Borthwick. ‘He is world-class and I thought his performance in the Six Nations was exceptional. Marcus has done some really good things, when you see the ability he has to see space, open up a defence and create tries.
‘There’s not much space. We played New Zealand twice and both games were two tries apiece, so having that bit of brilliance to open up an opportunity is essential. Getting to the start of the season I’ll want the players to be playing really well, coming into that autumn series. Having the three of them – Fin Smith, George Ford and Marcus – puts us in a pretty enviable position.’
