Settled squad reveals the truth about England’s Six Nations chances

The home dressing room at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium does not exactly resemble that which you might find down the local recreation ground, no faint fear of asbestos, rock-hard wooden benches or battered old boots to be found. There is, instead, plenty of room for activities, nutrition and treatment, with each player given a plush perch behind which sits a list of luminaries to have previously worn the shirt on their back for England’s men and women.

It was from one of these seats, just a short way along from the second row slots he would once have occupied, that England head coach Steve Borthwick delivered his Six Nations squad on Friday morning, the gathered press squashed around in front of him. It was as relaxed and jovial as Borthwick has been in the three-and-a-bit years he has occupied the role, as one might expect after a highly encouraging 2025 that England ended on an 11-match winning run.

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But, Borthwick may have noted, as he scanned the names around him and as senior players have remarked in the last few months, there is a tangible success that still eludes England. It is the Six Nations where international reputations are really forged, and it is six years since they won the title – with a settled squad at his disposal, the time for a proper tilt is surely now.

His predecessor, Eddie Jones, was a master of performative underdoggery, but Borthwick met the idea of England as Six Nations contenders head-on. “I think the first thing I’d like to say about that is I think it is brilliant that people are talking in that way about this England team,” he said, open and honest about the ambition. “They can see the development of the team, and they can see the talent that’s in the team, and they can see the potential that’s in it.

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“I think we’re nowhere near maxing out the potential. We met a couple of weeks ago and we talked about the Six Nations Championship. We know it’s tight, we know there’s lots of good teams in it. We also know the last seven Six Nations Championships have gone down to the last round of fixtures and we talked about that as a team.

“On the 14th of March in Paris, we want to be in a position entering that game, we want to be in a position where we can achieve what we’re all aiming to achieve. We want England fans flooding across the Channel to Paris to come and watch the team in a massive encounter on the final round with the opportunity to achieve what we want.”

Borthwick would later underline that he has not moved on from the day-by-day mantra that defines his coaching style but this felt like a shift in tone. England are growing comfortable with the place that, given their resources, they generally occupy – that of title favourites, or pretty close to, at least. A schedule shows three away games, including that rendezvous with France on “Super Saturday”, but the start feels relatively kind – a Wales side in a real plight coming to Twickenham on 7 February.

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It is perhaps a sign of how stable England feel that there were few standout lines or shock selections in a group numbering 36, or 41 if a rehabbing five who are touch-and-go for the opener are included. Twelve months ago, this occasion had been headlined by a surprise switch of captain, Maro Itoje installed in Jamie George’s stead. It is a decision that now looks wise, with England much more settled.

Prop injuries could yet be a destabilising force with Borthwick shorn of two of his top three tightheads in Will Stuart and Asher Opoku-Fordjour, but the head coach had a point instead to make on how the selection process has evolved. A short while ago, England’s staff may have scrambled; instead, having forged better relations with the clubs in the Prem and repaired their player pathways, Borthwick could call in Northampton Saints stalwart Trevor Davison and rising Bath star Vilikesa Sela and feel content with his options. “[Scrum coach] Tom Harrison knows about probably every prop playing rugby in England down to about level seven [in the English rugby pyramid],” Borthwick quipped. “He has them all documented, all their scrum profiles measured and understood and what they need to do, just in case.”

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Although Fin Baxter is a doubt as he works his way back from a calf issue, the starting forward pack and so-called bench “Pom Squad” against Wales is likely to resemble that which ended the autumn. Of greater intrigue might be the backline, where Tom Roebuck is not certain to be fully fit to take up his position on the right wing. That may necessitate Tommy Freeman remaining in the back three, rather than at outside centre, where his long-term development still lies.

The make-up of the midfield could prove critical both to England’s success and style. While they carry a collective cap count of just 11 between them, Borthwick feels he has three first-class inside centre options in Fraser Dingwall, Seb Atkinson and Max Ojomoh, who all offer a different flavour. “We had a period where we didn’t have specialist 12s and ball-playing 12s who have that skillset, but now we’re blessed in that we have effectively three of them,” the head coach explained.

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“There’s real competition for it, and I said before the autumn that I wanted one of these players to really grab it and say it’s theirs now. I was really pleased with what Seb Atkinson did last summer [in Argentina] and he would have been in the squad in November had he not been injured. I thought Max, while making his debut last summer, played really well in that final game of the Autumn Nations Series. You can see on the attacking side of the ball, Max is outstanding.

“Then you have Fraser. He might have a relatively low number of caps, but it feels like he’s been around the team for a long time and feels like he’s a senior player and a calm voice. I like that. Now, what I’m looking forward to in camp is seeing these three players train against each other and compete against each other.”

That spirit of collaborative competition is one that Borthwick believes he has fostered within a relatively tight-knit squad. Of course, it is far easier to say that from the position of solidity in which he and the team find themselves but the sense is that there can be no excuses for failing to make a proper fist of their title challenge. Compared to a year ago, where their hopes were ultimately ended by opening day defeat in Dublin, England are fitter, faster, stronger and better – and clear in their belief that a Six Nations triumph may finally arrive.