Four talking points about England team that will play the All Blacks

England rugby boss Steve Borthwick has taken a leaf from the Warren Gatland Test selection book, bringing forward his team selection from Thursday and laying it all out to the touring New Zealand four days before next Saturday’s Allianz Stadium, Twickenham clash.

Borthwick wasn’t scheduled to declare his hand until Thursday lunchtime, but he decided to go early and name a team showing four changes from the XV beaten by the All Blacks 16 weeks ago in Auckland. George Furbank and Ben Spencer have been chosen in place of Freddie Steward and the unavailable Alex Mitchell at full-back and scrum-half respectively.

Up front, there are also two alterations with loosehead Ellis Genge and openside Tom Curry included at the expense of replacement Fin Baxter and the excluded Sam Underhill. They will be supported by a bench containing six forwards, rather than the usual five, and just two backs in half-back duo of Harry Randall and George Ford. Here are four RugbyPass England team talking points:

Mr Indispensable

Just as smooth as the SpaceX catching a rocket on landing, Henry Slade has perfectly timed his selection run following a shoulder operation that initially left him in serious doubt for this four-match Autumn Nations Series which opens at home to New Zealand.

A year ago, Slade was a brutal casualty when Borthwick named his squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. However, the 31-year has been the epitome of the perfect professional in rebounding from that crushing setback, returning to start all five Guinness Six Nations matches and then all three summer tour games.

Having opted for an off-season operation, it was August 2 when Rob Baxter, Slade’s director of rugby at Exeter, outlined an uncertain recovery timeframe. “It’s a relatively complex operation which, at this stage, makes it a little difficult to talk about his return to play time. It is likely to be in the three-to-four-month range so unfortunately, he is going to miss a good chunk of the start of the season with us,” he explained.

That suggested it was touch and go for Slade to feature with England in November but so fast twitch has been his rehab, he will now line up alongside Ollie Lawrence for the seventh time this year having partnered him on three occasions in the Six Nations and in all three summer tour matches, including the two losses versus New Zealand.

The perfectly-timed comeback is a victory for Slade’s reputation as an “incredibly good rehabber” as he will wear the England No13 shirt having featured just once for Exeter this season, playing 54 minutes of last Sunday’s Gallagher Premiership home loss to Harlequins.

From dispensable to so very important… it’s been quite the 12 months for the midfielder who was last Friday named as one of 17 players awarded enhanced elite player squad member contracts.

Breaking through at the age of 32!

A consequence of the return of Slade to the England mix was that Alex Lozowski will have to wait a little while longer to end his six-year spell without a Test cap. Last chosen in November 2018, his inclusion in recent Borthwick training squads came after some excellent form for Saracens. But the giddy story of him potentially stepping in from the wilderness to grapple the All Blacks has now proven a step too far.

Borthwick’s team announcement, though, wasn’t bereft of an inspiring reward-for-patience story as scrum-half Ben Spencer has been pencilled in for his first-ever Test-level start… at the age of 32.

It’s been quite the fight for recognition by the Bath skipper, who had one cap to his name when called up from outside the squad to bench behind Ben Youngs in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final in place of the injured Willi Heinz.

That sudden elevation wasn’t followed by continuous involvement as Eddie Jones ignored him for the rest of his tenure and it took an injury to Mitchell for Borthwick to finally give Spencer his follow-up appearance when chosen away to Scotland last February.

Edinburgh was a savage place for a recall after four-plus years, as England were beaten out the gate that day, but Borthwick isn’t Jones and having picked Spencer as the back-up scrum-half to Mitchell in the two July tour losses to New Zealand, he has now trusted him with the No9 shirt in the injured Mitchell’s absence. It’s quite a brilliant story and a lesson for all players frustrated by selection to never lose belief.

‘Twins’ no more

There was once a time when Tom Curry and Underhill were joined at the hip in the England selection, bashing their way through World Cup 2019 as the so-called 'Kamikaze twins'. They laid ruin to the All Blacks on semi-final night that year, but both players have had their rotten luck with injuries in the years since then.

Just once have they been reunited as starters on Borthwick’s watch, last October’s bronze medal final win over Argentina in Paris. That was the tournament in which Curry had red card, injury and Bongi Mbonambi issues to deal with while Underhill was only a mid-competition call-up for the injured Jack Willis.

Underhill reminded us that night of his Test-level prowess, producing a stirring man-of-the-match performance at openside, and he went on to start at No7 in all eight matches played by England in 2024 but he now gives up that role to Curry for Saturday’s latest renewal with the All Blacks.

The Bath back-rower was available for selection, but Curry, a sub through the summer tour following his career-saving hip surgery last winter, has now got back the jersey. Whereas Underhill was overlooked when Borthwick last Friday confirmed his 17 enhanced elite player squad contracts, Curry was on that list and his inclusion for next Saturday now reflects that EPS pecking order.

Not that having an enhanced deal guarantees selection. It doesn't. Of the 17 enhanced EPS picks, just 12 are starters versus the All Blacks. Theo Dan and Ford have been listed for bench duty, while Ollie Chessum, Mitchell and Fin Smith are absent. Chessum and Mitchell are injured but Smith is surplus to requirement despite his enhanced EPS deal.

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