Smith’s absence and the reason Marler and Martin are starting, according to Borthwick

In order to counteract the influence of the renowned Springboks bomb squad, Steve Borthwick felt it was best to use Ellis Genge and Ollie Chessum off the bench rather than as starters in the pack.

He has explained why he made these three changes to his England Rugby World Cup semi-final squad. He also revealed that Marcus Smith had a setback with his return to play protocol earlier this week.

After Smith was the victim of a yellow carded head clash with Vinaya Habosi of Fiji, he first passed an in-game HIA. Last Sunday, Smith returned to the field and assisted England in winning their quarterfinal 30-24 in Marseille.

Though defense coach Kevin Sinfield later that day stated that all 33 players were eligible for selection against South Africa, head coach Borthwick has now acknowledged that he was aware, prior to Thursday’s team unveiling, that selecting Smith was a non-runner. Smith was, however, limited to modified training on Tuesday when his team began their semi-final preparations in Paris.

Borthwick gave the following explanation on Thursday afternoon in Paris: “Marcus was unavailable for selection due to the return to play protocol.” It happened earlier this week. He was knocked out during the game, but he recovered and completed the first stages of the HIA process. He failed one of the HIA’s later phases, and it was subsequently confirmed to me that he was not eligible to be selected.

Borthwick said, “He is perfectly fine in terms of symptoms, he doesn’t feel anything and would expect him to be available for selection after this weekend.” He was also questioned regarding claims that South Africa had tampered with the HIA procedure to give players a 10-minute in-game rest during their quarterfinal match against France.

“Led by Ben O’Keeffe, we have a world-class team of match officials. From my vantage point, there are no problems there since I’m sure that everyone in the vicinity of the pitch has all the procedures in place as they should. Regarding Marcus, it is appropriate to restate that player welfare is of utmost importance to us.

The only change in the England backline is the reintroduction of Freddie Steward to full-back in Smith’s absence. The two other changes are in the front five, where Joe Marler and George Martin are suddenly promoted to the starting lineup in place of the benched Genge and Chessum.

Regarding these role reversals, he stated, “There are a few factors in it.” Every time I conduct the selection process, I take great care to consider the opposition’s strengths, our desired style of play, our opportunities on the field, and my evaluation of each player.

“Because of the distance we had to travel, the short turnaround time of six days, and the fact that we have a wonderful team with depth and competition for spots, I made the decision to make some changes to the starting lineup and the bench. The players are looking forward to the challenge.”

“This squad contains three outstanding looseheads. Ellis has performed admirably, and I felt he did a great job last week. Joe, who rejoined the team after a hiatus, has also had a fantastic impact on the group. Bevan Rodd is a young player, but I have no problem with him playing in the 23 this weekend. It’s an extremely competitive job.

“We must constantly strike a balance between who gets to start and who gets to end, and we must acknowledge that an 80-minute performance is required. We know that the beginning and the finish of the tournament are critical, and our bench has performed admirably the entire time.

The fact that both of those players—Marler and Genge—are excellent scrummagers is significant, considering how strong the South African scrum is. We are aware that they hold the title of world’s greatest scrum.

We know we will scrum well throughout the game because, according to every piece of information, they have the best scrum in the world. It’s also crucial, in my opinion, to comprehend how our two sets of front row forwards work together. As I mentioned earlier, I thought Ellis had a great game last week, but this week, Joe should start and Ellis should finish.

Moving on to Martin’s elevation, Borthwick described the 22-year-old as follows: “I have known him for a few years now, from a very young man to seeing somebody now who is at home on the international stage.” Martin has just eight caps, three of which are as a starter.

“In the competition, he has started a game in the pool stages and entered the field in the second row and number six. He has performed in every minute he has been on the field, including crucial moments for the team. He’s a true team player who really loves to step onto the field and give it his all for the group.

“The boys in the front row consistently provide the second row with candid comments regarding the amount of weight they are contributing, and they are generally quite complimentary of George Martin’s contributions.

“He is a really athletic young man, but ever since I started working with him a few years ago, he has welcomed and ripped right into every challenge that I have put or that he has chosen to put in front of him. In this competition, he has been performing quite well.

“I thought about every combination of a 6/2 (forwards/backs split) or a 5/3. Another thing I thought about—and I’ve thought about it a lot more now—was comprehending the 80 minutes. As demonstrated by our most recent games, we must make sure that Q4 (the fourth quarter) is important.

“We witnessed that both the previous week and last week. Thus, the players we have sitting on the bench are the ones who will help us win the game. Select the appropriate participants to begin the match. The balance is always that.

Broadly speaking, Borthwick noted that South Africa presents a lot of issues and obstacles in the game, as one could anticipate from the top team in the world, and that the Springboks are heavy favorites to win the semi-final. They still possess the established set-piece potency that they have for a very long period.

Another excellent quality they possess is their contestable kicking game. In the past four years, they have also improved their ball movement and edge speed. They force that on the opponent, so we know we have to fight those things in order to make this a match.

Additionally, they boast a squad that is crammed with strength and size. As a result, you can be sure that they have a quality starting lineup and powerful players who will contribute off the bench. We have a really good team, and our reserve is probably not too bad either. We are aware that playing the top team in the world will be an incredible task. We can’t wait to take on this task.