Lawrence and Slade can work - Barritt

BRAD Barritt backs the misfiring duo of Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence to continue together in midfield for England, stressing the importance of familiarity in centre partnerships.

- BEN JAYCOCK

The former Saracens centre won 26 England caps between 2012-15 and built a solid partnership with Manu Tuilagi which proved the catalyst for memorable Twickenham triumphs including the 2012 win over then world champions, New Zealand.

The jury is out on England's centre pairing and each of Steve Borthwick's four options in his squad play the majority of club rugby at inside centre.

Out and out 12s such as Bath's Max Ojomoh and Gloucester's Seb Atkinson were excluded from the squad with Saracens centre Alex Lozowski also omitted, and Barritt believes Slade and Lawrence will gel together.

He told The Rugby Paper: "They have to find the right combination to make the team successful. I was surprised Alex Lozowski, who was part of the autumn, isn't involved. But I'm sure England want to have continuity in keeping their midfield together, particularly now they have a settled partnership at half-back.

"It's important to build on a lot of the great foundations they've laid over the past two seasons.