England captain Owen Farrell has been replaced by Marcus Smith at fly-half for Saturday’s Six Nations match against France at Twickenham.
“Owen Farrell will start the game on the bench and when he comes on, he will captain the team.
While his form in an England shirt has been inconsistent over the past few seasons, Borthwick gave the Saracens talisman his full backing in January when naming him captain for the Six Nations campaign.
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Farrell started the tournament at inside centre against Scotland, with Smith at fly-half, before reverting to the number 10 shirt for the wins against Italy and Wales.
Replacement Smith only featured for a handful of minutes against Italy and a matter of seconds in Cardiff, and when Borthwick sent him back to his club Harlequins during the fallow week it suggested he had fallen down the pecking order, especially given the return to fitness of George Ford.
But after playing a starring role in Harlequins’ victory over Exeter, Smith has made a sensational return to the starting XV and lines up alongside Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade in arguably the biggest match of his career.
Asked about his role earlier in the week, Farrell said he was happy to do “whatever the team needs”.
England must beat France to stay in the Six Nations title hunt, with the world’s number one side Ireland lying in wait in Dublin on the final day.
In the backs, Jonathan Danty will make his first start in the Six Nations at inside centre, with Yoram Moefana dropping to the bench.
Teams
England: Steward; Malins, Slade, Lawrence, Watson; Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge (capt), George, Sinckler; Itoje, Chessum; Ludlam, Willis, Dombrandt.
Replacements: Walker, M Vunipola, Cole, Ribbans, B Curry, Mitchell, Farrell, Arundell.
France: Ramos; Penaud, Fickou, Danty, Dumortier; Ntamack, Dupont (capt); Baille, Marchand, Aldegheri, Flament, Willemse, Cros, Ollivon, Alldritt.
Replacements: Mauvaka, Wardi, Falatea, Taofifenua, Macalou, Lucu, Moefana, Jaminet.
