Henry Slade and Joe Marchant are in full swing after England's loss to Wales on Saturday. Photo: Getty Images/Ian Cook < p>There have always been high-profile losses in this World Cup team, and Henry Slade is undoubtedly the most conspicuous omission.
In some ways, this call may represent an attempt draw a line under the Eddie Jones era. This certainly highlights that there is no momentum in England for a consistent four-year cycle; a question that Steve Borthwick has been working on for the past months.
Was Steve Borthwick right to exclude Henry Slade from his team for the World Cup? Poll
As Russ Petty noted on Twitter, since the start of 2020, Slade has played in 30 of the 37 matchday lineups. That's more than any other defender. Among the midfield carousel, he has the most starts at 12 and the most at 13. Why then is he ineligible and what does that mean for England selection plans?
Although not the only factor, Joe Marchand's quality has helped convince Borthwick. Marchand is a shrewd cornerman and an unexpected defender. Both of these things were stepped up in Cardiff on Saturday.
In the opening moments, Sam Costelow throws an inside pass to Corey Domachowski under pressure from Ellis Jenge and Wales break the line of reinforcement:
Marchant 1
The hosts line up to play in a slicing pattern and overload the outfield, with Lee Halfpenny succumbing to the fast-running Max Llewellyn. George North and Louis Rhys-Zammit hide far away:
Marcus Smith calls through Will Stewart to cover for Jack Morgan . In addition to Smith, these are Guy Porter and Marchand. Halfpenny is the key person:
Costelow can send Llewellyn with a short ball (A), or maybe serve up a Halfpenny to test wider channels with a pullback (B) . Marchand weighs things. Smith and Porter cover for Llewellyn so he can push and push Halfpenny:
Marchand makes a decision and executes it brilliantly, accelerating on the Costelow pass, jumping over the Halfpenny and bouncing on his feet towards the jackal. His breakdown due to a breakdown has brought charges to the England team in the past. This is where Costelow goes crazy and Nick Berry does the duty by awarding a penalty to the defense:
Marchand 2
In the second half, Marchand moved to the wing. Here he sits on the left flank when Tom Willis takes the ball out of the lineout. George Ford, Porter and Slade form a new midfield:
Moments later, Jack van Purtvliet kicks in. Marchand pursues, lassoing Rhys-Zammit and causing a spill:
Marchand 3
As Berry signals the scrum to England, Marchand returns to his wing:
Marchand has made 15 appearances in his Test career and has shown excellent shooting quality on both sides of the ball. It can be imagined as a direct replacement for Slade, but it's not that simple.
Borthwick's eagerness to select Marcus Smith as one of the three midfield specialists didn't help Slade, whose fate suggests we see Owen Farrell both mid-fly and center, the latter in harness with either Smith or, more likely, with Ford.
While Farrell's main position should be half, a repeat of the Ford-Farrell double act seems inevitable in the upcoming warm-up matches, possibly with Ollie Lawrence as outside center. Ford was an invaluable general to Borthwick at Leicester Tigers. Farrell is his skipper. Together, they can add width and variety to strokes.
Of course, Slade itself is universal. It turned into the first recipient from standard games, ironically sending Marchand to South Africa in 2021:
He also moonlighted as a cornerback, most notably in a win over Australia two years ago when Manu Tuilagi carried 14th but acted as an outside center as part of a misleading backline. .
Elliot Daly, another left-handed playmaker, is another inclusion that could potentially count against Slade. Daly's connection to Farrell in the phase game, when he switches to the second level of attack, reinforces a good season for the Saracens and can strengthen the England team. Borthwick obviously prioritized this by bringing in Max Malins over the creative axis of Farrell and Slade.
He may be more likely to feature as a roaming left wing, but Daley's ability to play off center is more valuable in the absence of Slade. Choose one from each column for a potential England midfielder:
England's 33-man World Cup midfield options
*indicates a potential wing
Tuilagi and Lawrence offer punch and power, making Daly and Marchand's ability to cover the back three more important. Because of this, Borthwick feels confident enough to load the strikers into the 19-14 split.
With that in mind, Ben Earl and Slade could have run into each other in Borthwick's latest riddle. Earl's speed makes him a potential wild card that can slip to the bottom of the scrum — or start from that position if Billy Wunipole needs to rest against Chile — and get close to the sidelines in phase play. Again, there are hints that the Saracen attack made an impression.
Here are the potential backline schemes. We know that Borthwick loves blind hybrid locks. He picked four, including Maro Itoye:
England's back-line options from their 33-man World Cup squad
*denotes potential blocking
Ignoring Slade, Borthwick has passed away a player with two World Cup experience and a key figure in some of England's best matches in 2019; notably the victory over Dublin that started the Six Nations and the quarter-final loss to Australia.
The Slade-Tuilagi partnership entered the fray with Ireland as recently as March, and seemed at least a good fallback. On the other hand, Slade played his 57th cap on Saturday, and it's hard to argue that he's made himself known too many times in those games.
Bortwick showed his conviction that the decision would be divisive. Now this should be confirmed by team performances.
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