Bbc Rugby: Borthwick backs ‘bibs backline’ to ease Six Nations crisis
rugby — England head coach Steve Borthwick has backed a makeshift ‘bibs backline’ for this weekend’s Six Nations Test against Italy in Rome as he seeks to halt a collapse after successive defeats to Scotland and Ireland. The reshuffle relies on combinations that have largely only trained together, with Borthwick stressing performance in training as the selection driver. The match is being cast by players as a defining chance to restore fight and cohesion.
Rugby: Why Borthwick picked the ‘bibs backline’
Borthwick framed the switch as a reward for preparation rather than club form, saying: “Much of this backline has trained for four or five weeks together and trained very, very well. ” He added: “I say again how much I value what I see in training. I say it to the players, that I’m watching every bit of training and I value performance in training. This is a very strong message about the ethos within the England team, that you will be rewarded for performing in that sense. “
Coaches have stitched together a backline with limited Test experience as a unit. Fly-half Fin Smith and inside centre Seb Atkinson previously came through Worcester’s youth system and played six first-team games together about half a decade ago. Smith and outside centre Tommy Freeman are both at Northampton, though Freeman is more commonly used on the wing at club level. Atkinson and wing Tom Roebuck were part of England’s Test series win in Argentina. The selection reads as seven players drawn from six different clubs, with only small threads of prior understanding linking many of the combinations.
England’s downturn has been sharp: they were beaten by Scotland and then Ireland, losing by margins of 11 and 21 points respectively, and those results have left questions about decision-making, energy and basic errors. Maro Itoje reached 100 England caps in the defeat by Ireland a fortnight ago and then addressed his team in a pitch-side huddle after that match, signalling frustration and urgency within the playing group.
Immediate reactions and the leadership response
Jamie George, named as a senior hooker in the squad, framed the Italy Test as potentially the toughest and most defining moment for this England group. “Ultimately, what we haven’t seen enough of in the last couple of weeks is spirit, fight, hard work and graft, ” said Jamie George, England hooker. He warned that sluggish starts have been a key problem and urged a renewed focus on togetherness and standards, noting the value of senior players setting the tone around the camp.
George highlighted changes in personnel and leadership as part of the reset, pointing to the need for players to step up: “We need to be really clear on how we get back there, why it hasn’t been there, and make sure it doesn’t happen again. ” He described the upcoming trip to Rome as a test of character and unity, and said the squad owes it to supporters and staff to respond.
What’s next: how the Rome Test will be judged
England head coach Steve Borthwick’s gamble on a backline forged in training will be judged first on cohesion and second on results in Rome this weekend. The match is being cast internally as an opportunity to arrest a multi-front collapse: tactical confusion, poor starts and individual errors have to be corrected for belief to be restored. If the ‘bibs backline’ shows the continuity Borthwick says he sees in practice, it could offer a blueprint for selection; if not, pressure on personnel and methodology will intensify.
For players and staff the focus is clear: rebuild fight and clarity quickly and visibly. The coming Test in Italy will determine whether that message translates from training to performance — and whether the batch of newcomers can knit into a functioning unit under Test match conditions in the most important sense for rugby coverage and the team’s trajectory.
