Why Borthwick is putting his faith in a Saints spine

Of all the buzzwords upon which Steve Borthwick likes to lean, the concept of "cohesion" is one that the England head coach returns to more than just about any other.

- HARRY LATHAM-COYLE

The idea of close connections and well-grooved combinations has been a theme of his tenure on and off the field, encouraging his squad to build links away from the pitch while placing great emphasis on continuity in squad selection.

The England boss looks enviously at a nation like Ireland, who can draw much of their 23 from a single side in Leinster. “There’s no doubt when you’re trying to build a team, building relationships and how often people play together is important,” Borthwick said after the opening round Six Nations defeat in Dublin. “You contrast us with Ireland and how often they play together. With Leinster, you see the model they’ve gone with, that consistency. It’s certainly beneficial in the international environment to have players who’ve played together a number of times.”

It is an advantage also enjoyed, to some extent, by the rest of the United Rugby Championship nations. Italy are building around Benetton; Scotland is increasingly a Glaswegian group; Wales has a Cardiff core. In international rugby, preparation time precampaign is tight – both Borthwick and Eddie Jones before him have blamed England’s slow starts to Six Nations on the fact that they must bring together a squad drawn from a broader pool of clubs than some of their rivals. Eight Premiership sides were represented in Borthwick’s starting XV to play Ireland.

There are multiple ways to mitigate against these challenges. One is to trust in combinations, as Borthwick has done with Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence in the centres. The other is to build around a spine drawn from a single side. The success of France, who face similar issues in bringing together a group drawn more broadly, has come about partly due to the excellence of their Toulouse vertebrae, with Fabien Galthie increasingly installing a gameplan that closely resembles the one employed by Antoine Dupont and co at club level.