Borthwick deserves credit for his brave calls

TIME to tip a hat in the direction of England coach Steve Borthwick who bit the bullet hard this week and made the biggest and best decisions of his life.

- BRENDAN GALLAGHER

Sometimes it’s only in extremis that your thought processes work properly.

It might be stretching a point to suggest his job was on the line yesterday but Borthwick was definitely running out of time and England’s chances of winning this season’s Championship were disappearing down the pan yet again. There was also an urgent need for England to show they could play for 80 minutes, not their habitual hour.

In my “Bleacher’s Report” last week I insisted it was time for Fin Smith to be given his head at fly-half and that Marcus Smith should move to full-back. It was clearly the way forward, but I didn’t really expect the England coach to implement both switches against a fully booted and suited France.

It just felt right and it worked brilliantly even if it needed a last-minute try from Elliot Daly before we could give it the official seal of approval.

Fin Smith brings calm and direction. He’s not adrenalin fuelled like Marcus Smith, he doesn’t go for broke all the time and his outside backs dovetail more easily with his thought processes. He also has nerves of steel and must surely now be given a lengthy run at the helm.