That of George Ford return to England This week’s team has somewhat muddied the flyhalf selection picture for Steve Borthwick.

On the one hand, England have gained the services of a player four caps in less than a century. On the other hand, Borthwick found himself in the awkward position of choosing who should start in the No.10 jersey against the All black people Saturday at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham and throughout the fall.

In the first match since Guinness Six Nations where all options are available for Borthwick, the head coach chose to start Marcus Smith, with Ford returning from a quad injury to take his place on the bench for the third installment of the year against Scott Robertson’s side.

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The sale Sharks No. 10 takes the reins of the Six Nations and spearheads the birth of this new England, skillfully supported by Marcus Smith from the bench against Ireland. But an Achilles problem with Ford meant Harlequin steered the ship against the All Blacks in July, supported by his namesake Fin.

While Ford was initially uncertain about his injury for the start of the Autumn Nations Series with a quad problem, the picture for the fly-half seemed simple: Marcus Smith would start and End Smith would start on the bench. Now Borthwick will be in a dilemma for the rest of November.

England

New Zealand

But for the former England scrum-half Danny Care there is no such dilemma. Regardless of Ford’s fitness, Marcus Smith must start if England are to crack the top four in the world rankings.

Currently in fifth place in the rankings, joining the top rankings among Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand and France, or even usurping one of them, will be the goal of the England over the coming months, and Care estimates that its Harlequins a teammate is the best choice to help achieve this feat.

Although he now views England as an observer, it hasn’t been that long since the 101-cap international was on the other side of the fence – just over six months in fact – so he will have a direct experience of what Borthwick wants to get out of it. of his team and how he wants to play. With a wealth of knowledge of how Marcus Smith and Ford operate, he is well equipped to offer his two penn’orths in the fly-half debate.

“Whatever happens, Marcus Smith would be my flyhalf,” TNT Sports pundit Care recently said. RugbyPass. “I think about the way England have developed their game and this kind of attacking spirit that we have now, with the players we have around them, with the speed at which they can play, for me, for England to enter this top four, he is the fly half.

Care nevertheless believes Ford has an important role to play in the England camp, even if he does not feature in the matchday squad.

“That being said, George is still going to play an extremely important role in this team, whether he plays or not,” added the 37-year-old. “He’s almost like another coach for the boys, he sees the game so well. Whether he’s on the bench, whether he’s a starter or whether he’s the third fly-half, he will help England to beat New Zealand. So he still has a lot of miles in the tank.

What is different on England’s set-up since Care retired from international rugby in March is part of the Borthwick coaching team, with Felix Jones now working remotely and Joe El-Abd taking over as defense coach.

While this could derail Borthwick’s plans and destabilize a team that was on an upward trajectory, Care believes it will only be a disruption if England choose to make one.

“Felix is ​​a world class coach, I loved working with him, the boys did,” added the scrum-half. “But if he wants to be somewhere else and he wants to go do something else, then you want people in the room to want to be there.

“So it’s one of those, you thank him for his time. He has done some brilliant things for England, continuing the excellent work done by Kevin Sinfield, and now it is Joe El-Abd’s turn to put his mark on an already very good and hopefully -the, to try to take them to the next level. So it can be a disruption if you want to make one. I think England really enjoys working with Joe and I don’t think it will be too distracting.

Care echoes his former boss Borthwick when he mentions the “next level” England need to reach, and believes they can get there in November with the visit of the world champions All Blacks from Australia. South Africa and Japan. But there are some non-negotiables if they want to reach that next level.

Care said: “I think for England the next level that Steve has always talked about is getting into the top four in the world. Beat one of the top four teams. We beat Ireland obviously in the Six Nations, but I think England have to beat New Zealand or in South Africa.

“I’m not saying they have to beat them both, but I think to get to the next level it’s about knocking out these world-class teams and there’s no better opportunity to play New Zealand for this first match.

“I thought they should have beaten them twice this summer, which gave me great optimism that when New Zealand come here England will learn from it and have enough to beat them at home and I honestly think she will do it this weekend.”

Every match of the 2024 Autumn Nations Series is broadcast exclusively live on TNT Sports and discovery+ Watch The Autumn Nations Rugby Show, free-to-air on Quest every Thursday at 10pm from October 31.