The dreaded ‘Borthwick Walk’ has become a common phrase in the England Six Nations camp, as they prepare to take on France.
Having lost their opening match 27-22 to Ireland, Steve Borthwick’s side know that they need to win to keep their hopes of winning the competition alive.
The head coach made a few changes from the defeat in Dublin, with Marcus Smith shifted to full-back, Fin Smith in at fly-half, forcing Freddie Steward to be dropped out of the squad completely.
The Leicester Tigers star likely knew all too well what was coming when he was subjected to the ‘Borthwick Walk’, which takes place when the coach pulls a player for a chat only to break the news to them that they have been left out of the team.
“Yeah, it’s always something I prefer to keep to myself,” Steward told Netflix’s Full Contact show when he was similarly dropped last year against Scotland. “I had a great conversation with Steve and we talked about what I needed to do from a rugby perspective to get back in the team and that’s all I needed to hear.”
Fans of the show would have been disappointed to hear of the news that a third season is not coming, having delved deep into the England camp a year ago.
They told Netflix’s cameras that they actively looked to avoid making contact with Borthwick when he is on the ‘walk’, knowing that whoever he seeks out would not be named in the starting XV.
Ollie Sleightholme and Tom Willis have both been brought into the team to face France, after warmer conversations with Borthwick, who defended his decision to name both Smiths in the starting line-up for the first time.
Ben Curry, however, was another victim of the ‘Borthwick Walk’ as he drops to the bench.
“I think he is a game-changer,” Borthwick said of Marcus Smith as he explained his decisions. “He’s a player who can do things very few in the world can do. And I want him to bring all those natural instincts [to] an England shirt.
“Whether he starts with No 10 or No 15 on his back, nothing changes. I want those natural instincts on the pitch. He sees space that others don’t. He has an ability to find gaps in defences that most people don’t know are there. That’s exactly what I want him to bring this weekend.
“There are changes within the 23 but minimal changes from outside the 23, which I think is important to recognise,” Borthwick explained. “These players, I want them to play together a lot. I’m not saying there aren’t opportunities for others, but I want the players to get used to playing with each other much more often.
“I thought Ben [Curry] played really well, and my conversation was: ‘You did everything I asked of you, I thought you played really well’. What I felt was, in the second half last Saturday, that we needed more running on the pitch.
“We had a number of players off the bench with great skill sets. My feeling is with Ben Curry on the bench for this game, to come on at some point and add that intensity of work rate, movement, jackal pressure, as well as link play.”
