Borthwick's mythical masterplan? I'm tired of waiting – Andy Goode

Steve Borthwick insists England have a plan but there’s no smoke without fire when it comes to rumours of unrest in camp and he desperately needs his players to show us what it is now.

No back is going to be happy with touching the ball just once in a training session, if those reports are true, and it does look like England’s attack has gone backwards over the course of the opening three games of the tournament so it needs to start clicking into gear.

There’s no tougher test than coming up against an Irish defence that has conceded just 13 tries in the last 13 Six Nations games but nobody is expecting an England victory so maybe it’s the perfect time to surprise everyone and let’s face it, they’re going to need to score points aplenty if they are to win.

There’s a lot of talk about how you stop the green machine and, of course, you have to respect how good they are and tweak your game plan accordingly but the way to beat them is to focus on your own attack and put them under pressure.

Ireland have won 23 of their last 25 Tests and the two defeats to the All Blacks were a couple of very rare occasions where they conceded three or more tries. It sounds like an obvious point but elements of England’s selection show they’re focusing more on the opposition than themselves.

(Photo by Sylvain Thomas/AFP via Getty Images)

The Irish lineout is purring at the moment under Paul O’Connell and that’s why Ollie Chessum has been picked in the back row but I don’t like it as it’s all about the set piece and thwarting Ireland rather than posing them problems.

I just think that’s the wrong mindset and he’s also never started a Test in that position before and has only played one game for Leicester there this season.

George Martin should make a big difference with his physicality, particularly going up against Joe McCarthy, but I’d rather England had picked another ball carrier in the back row who would worry Ireland like Chandler Cunningham-South.

It’s great to see Immanuel Feyi-Waboso getting his first Test start but it’s all very well Borthwick telling him to ignite the attack, find the ball and do a James Lowe but England need to find ways to get the ball to him in space.

He has impressed in cameos off the bench but he’s been on the field for a total of 21 minutes across the opening few games and was playing for Taunton Titans in National One less than 12 months ago so it’s a bit much to expect him to provide the impetus.

England's Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Feyi-Waboso is talented, has a point of difference and I’m glad he’s getting his chance so hopefully he will give the pedestrian England attack a bit more of a spark but it’s those inside him who need to light the fire.

Ollie Lawrence only returned against Scotland and Henry Slade is an extra distributor who hasn’t done too much wrong this tournament and has been tearing it up for Exeter but it bewilders me that George Ford is still in the number 10 jersey.

Marcus Smith would surely have started at fly-half in Round 1 if he’d been available, he’s clearly fit now and I’m not buying that Ford has to retain the jersey for the sake of continuity when England’s attack hasn’t been firing at all and their chances of winning the tournament are as good as gone.

Yes, they could win both their remaining games with a bonus point but the likelihood of Ireland not beating Scotland in Dublin or the Scots having not garnered enough points to be champions if that does happen, is slim to none.

So it seems disingenuous to suggest that Ford should get the nod based on a focus on the present, England should be looking to the future and I’m sure Simon Easterby and Ireland’s defence would be more concerned by the prospect of facing Smith.

Marcus Smith (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Danny Care winning his 100^th cap off the bench will be a special moment that will hopefully get the crowd involved and give England a burst of energy when it happens but Alex Mitchell’s return should help inject a bit of pace.

Borthwick actually criticised the players publicly for going off script against Scotland, and I’m not sure how well that will have gone down in camp, but it isn’t yet obvious to anyone on the outside what he wants so it’s understandable if the players get confused too.

It’s clearly a result of the plan rather than the personnel but England have the slowest average ruck speed in the tournament and they’re going to have to step that up significantly if they’re going to stress the Irish defence.

Speed of ball is key to Ireland’s game and unsurprisingly they have the quickest average ruck speed in the competition so England will have to slow them down but they can’t do that for 80 minutes and they’re going to need to generate quick ball themselves.

Ireland don’t throw too many wide passes but they’re clever and all comfortable getting their hands on the ball, making 220 passes per game on average which is almost twice as many as England do.

There is definitely a perception among fans of England and other countries that the men in white are boring and don’t want the ball and it’s up to them, and Borthwick in particular, to disprove that and start entertaining.

Twickenham/ PA

It’s all very well talking about doing so and getting Rag n Bone Man on at half-time but England need to get supporters involved and energised with the rugby they’re trying to play and then we’ll see if Twickenham can respond.

England have been getting territory with their kicking game but the fact that they have the worst red zone efficiency in the Six Nations and are earning just 1.8 points per visit to the opposition 22 suggests muddled thinking in attack.

They’ll need a lot better return than that against Ireland and that should be their main focus rather than just trying to negate what the men in green are going to do.

Ireland are a phenomenal side, in the top two teams in the world if they aren’t the best, and it might be a good media line but when you look at the team sheet, there honestly isn’t a single England player that would get in their starting XV at the moment.

That isn’t just because they’re such a well-oiled machine and have a brilliant system, it’s looking at the individual players and their qualities and Ireland are quite simply better from one to 15 right now.

England are underdogs, they aren’t going to win the title and if they play like they have to this point, I think they’ll lose by 25 points. They should be focusing on themselves more than the opposition but Borthwick insists they have a plan and there’s no better time to show your hand than against the champions-elect.