Borthwick explains backing Ben Spencer for first England Test start

Steve Borthwick has insisted his decision to give Ben Spencer a first-ever England start won’t hamper their recently improved attack. Quick ruck speed has been fundamental to the upgraded English approach that was unveiled in the Guinness Six Nations win over Ireland last March.

Alex Mitchell was pivotal to that tempo change, but he is now injured and Harry Randall and Jack van Poortvliet were generally viewed as the players closest to him in style.

However, Borthwick has instead opted to select Spencer as his starting No9 this Saturday versus the All Blacks at Allianz Stadium, with Randall providing back-up from the bench and van Poortvliet surplus to requirement.

It was August 2023 when van Poortvliet was set to travel to the Rugby World Cup as England’s first-choice scrum-half. A serious ankle injury sustained versus Wales after the squad for France had been announced forced him out, though.

That paved the way for the previously excluded Mitchell to earn a reprieve and he travelled across the Channel with veterans Danny Care and Ben Youngs, who are both now retired from Test rugby. Mitchell went on to dominate the selection, starting in five of the seven World Cup matches. He was also a starter in four of this year’s Six Nations games and in all three summer tour fixtures.

A neck injury has currently sidelined him, opening up the selection to Spencer and Randall, who toured Japan and New Zealand, and van Poortvliet, who has enjoyed a successful comeback at club level with Leicester.

Spencer was Borthwick’s bench choice in Dunedin and Auckland in the respective 15-16 and 17-24 July losses to the All Blacks and the head coach has now handed him a first Test start following a career that amounted to six short runs as a replacement.

Asked why he has backed Spencer for a first Test start at the age of 32, Borthwick explained: “Ben has been around the England team for a good period of time. That has been a huge benefit. Ben is such an experienced player. He has played so many games in the Premiership.

"You saw the way he played in the Premiership final, I thought he was absolutely outstanding. He is a guy who knows how to deliver on the biggest of stages and that is important. He is a calm guy. He has played in a lot of big games. We have got such a competitive position there with so many good nines.”