Steve Borthwick, who led Martin Johnson's England for almost two years, will learn tomorrow afternoon if his place in the elite player squad has vanished with the captaincy. Fourteen months before the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand the England manager will announce his new pool of 32 senior players.
Borthwick, 30, lost the captaincy at the end of last season's Six Nations, when a damaged knee forced him to miss the 12-10 defeat by France in Paris. He was replaced by the flanker Lewis Moody, who kept the captaincy for the summer tour, on which England achieved their first win in the southern hemisphere since 2003, beating Australia 21-20 in Sydney.
That game featured two second-rows, Tom Palmer and Courtney Lawes, of an athleticism that has often been missing when Borthwick has been picked. Furthermore, while Borthwick's strength lies in running the lineout, the flanker Tom Croft won ball at the front, middle and back in Sydney.
Of the other locks in the tour party the 23-year-old Gloucester player David Attwood excelled in the midweek matches and Leicester's Geoff Parling and Dan Ward-Smith of Wasps were given honourable mentions by Johnson. Simon Shaw of Wasps, however, began to look his age, 36, particularly in the 27-17 first-Test defeat in Perth.Discarding Shaw and Borthwick would mean losing 106 caps of experience shortly before the World Cup.
Barring accidents or injuries, Dan Cole, Steve Thompson and Tim Payne, who made life so difficult for the Wallabies, would seem to have booked their front-row places for New Zealand. If fit, Andrew Sheridan, Dylan Hartley and Phil Vickery would expect to join them.
At scrum-half Ben Youngs did enough in Sydney, in his only start for his country so far, to suggest that a lengthy England career lies ahead. In the back three Ben Foden's enterprise from full-back and Chris Ashton's determination on the wing impressed in a threequarter line that found some appetite for the fight. In Sydney Shontayne Hape, in contrast to his display in Perth, looked less lost at inside-centre – England's problem position.
With almost the last throw of the dice the Sale fly-half Charlie Hodgson played well enough in the final game, the defeat by the New Zealand Maori in Napier, to jump ahead of Shane Geraghty in the queue behind Toby Flood and Jonny Wilkinson.
Possible England elite player squad: Backs: Ben Foden (Northampton), Delon Armitage (London Irish), Chris Ashton (Northampton) Mark Cueto (Sale), Ugo Monye (Harlequins), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester), Riki Flutey (Wasps), Shontayne Hape, Olly Barkley (both Bath), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Toby Flood (Leicester), Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), Ben Youngs (Leicester), Danny Care (Harlequins), Joe Simpson (Wasps). Forwards: Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Steve Thompson (Leeds), Rob Webber (Wasps), Dan Cole (Leicester), Phil Vickery (Wasps), Andrew Sheridan (Sale), Tim Payne (Wasps), Tom Palmer (Stade Français), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), Dave Attwood (Gloucester), Simon Shaw (Wasps), Tom Croft (Leicester), Lewis Moody (Bath), James Haskell (Stade Français), Phil Dowson (Northampton), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Dan Ward-Smith (Wasps).
