England on the attack Borthwick tears up script - and may next shift Pollock to wing

Steve Borthwick is considering playing his fast-rising back-row Henry Pollock on the wing at some stage this autumn as he seeks fresh impetus in all areas before the looming November Tests.

- Robert Kitson

The England head coach says he wants his side to hit the ground running against Australia on Saturday and may also start Ben Earl at centre this season. England's team to face the Wallabies has already had a significant makeover with Tommy Freeman starting in midfield and no place for either Marcus Smith or Ollie Lawrence in the matchday 23.

Six British & Irish Lions players, including Pollock, are on the bench with the Bath flanker Guy Pepper, the Leicester prop Joe Heyes and the Sale wing Tom Roebuck all starting.

Part of Borthwick's rationale is his desire to stick with combinations which went well on tour in Argentina but he is also looking for different ways to maximise the skill sets of dynamic, hybrid players such as Pollock, Pepper and Earl.

"Guy Pepper's been training in the back line and we've been looking at Henry Pollock on the wing," Borthwick said. "His pace is the match of a lot of wingers. That kind of versatility is really important to us. I'm not saying we're training all those combinations for this Saturday but these are the things we have which allow us to go 6-2 [on the bench].