Around 6pm on Tuesday, the England players sat on their hotel balcony, taking turns to have their hair cut, watching the sun set over the Costa Brava.
The roseate glow and meditative spa music painted a picture of tranquillity ahead of their Six Nations opener against Ireland.
Downstairs, Steve Borthwick addressed the media for the first time since his squad assembled in Spain. He delivered a message about youth, style and performances to get fans jumping off the couch.
‘You talk about the Six Nations, is it 10million people watching it on TV?’ said Borthwick. ‘You’ll have people sitting ontheir sofas at home with their England shirts on, hopefully jumping up and down.
‘Hopefully they’re going into work on a Monday morning feeling six inches taller because of the way their team played. That’s what we want to bring.’
It all felt a long way from the storm clouds back at Twickenham but the forecast can change quickly in English rugby.
Steve Borthwick wants to excite England fans and is trying something different against Ireland
Maro Itoje, in his first Test as England skipper, will have his work cut out at the lineout
Messaging about growth and improvement are all well and good but the public’s insatiable appetite is for victories.
Winning scorelines were hard to come by in 2024 — just five from 12 Tests — and Borthwick is attempting a new selection formula to turn things around.
He has selected the Curry twins, Tom and Ben, to bring their breakdown expertise in the background at the expense of a lineout option. It is a selection gamble that will leave the Irish sniffing an opportunity.
‘Ireland play a lot of phases, we know their phases attack is very dangerous and we know there’s going to be an expectation to make a lot of tackles,’ said Borthwick.
‘Our back row can run. They have incredible engines, incredible mobility. They are fantastic players defensively, with their tackling and their jackal. They carry the ball well and that contest area is going to be one of great intensity.
‘Clearly, there’s always a blend and a trade-off of what you decide to do. It is my job to weigh up all those considerations and I am sure (forwards coach) Paul O’Connell and the Irish line-out will look at this and try to attack us in that area.
‘We will have to be very good. I feel really fortunate to have Maro Itoje calling the line-out to start the game, with Ollie Chessum being the next caller in the game.’
Ben Earl will join the Curry brothers in the back row. The No 8 is still licking his wounds from the disappointing autumn campaign and he is long enough in the tooth to know that victory is the currency that matters. Bullish mentalities are needed.
Harlequins flier Cadan Murley will make his debut alongside his old pal Marcus Smith
Ben Earl wants to put right the wrongs of England’s autumn with a strong Six Nations campaign
‘With a bit of time to reflect, the autumn felt like an opportunity missed,’ admitted Earl. ‘But I had never been more buoyed to come back in and that’s an example of how good the environment is here.
‘It has a feeling that if something good were to happen this week, then people would very quickly forget New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. That’s the magic of this tournament and the magic of this team, because it’s an exciting time.’
Earl is right. A statement victory would bring somemuch-needed sunshine to a sport in the middle of political rows about the ethics of chief executive bonus payments. Bill Sweeney addressed Borthwick and the senior players before they flew to Girona, but the internal discussions here have focused purely on tactical improvements in attack and defence. ‘It’s not something we’ve discussed in camp,’ said Borthwick of the Sweeney row. ‘I know Bill has regular contact with senior players and has a very good relationship with the senior players.
‘We’re on the eve of the Six Nations — we are playing one of the world’s best teams in Dublin, in this incredible tournament. That’s what is on the players’ minds. Nothing about any other matter than that.’
Stylistically, England will look to keep the ball alive against the Irish. High-tempo attack is on the agenda. They have little to gain by playing for line-outs, at least before they unload the rangier frames of Chessum, Chandler Cunningham-South and Tom Willis from the bench.
Marcus Smith has been paired with his good friend and old housemate Cadan Murley in the backline. Smith has been named at 10 — as revealed by Mail Sport — and Murley has been handed a debut on the wing, with hopes of delivering the instinctive attacking play they showcase at Harlequins.
‘I have a good understandingof him and he has got a good understanding of me,’ said Murley. ‘We used to put rugby up on our big TV, watch the game back and ask, “What do you think here, what do you feel here?” He just knows where I am going to be, he doesn’t have to look sometimes. He knows I will be ready, nice and flat for a kick.
‘This is what we dreamed of when we were 16, playing for the Quins academy, so to be here with Marcus makes it evenmore special.
‘The first time I remember seeing him he was this little Filipino kid with unbelievable footwork, putting people through holes, and thinking, “He is going to be pretty good”. And he was.
Marcus Smith was one of the few players to come out of the autumn series with any credit
It’s a tough start to England’s Six Nations as they travel to Dublin to face the holders Ireland
‘I thought, “Follow him around and you are probably going to get on the end of something as a winger”. That is hopefully what I will be doing this weekend.’
With the Curry twins likely to lead the tackle count in the pack against the Irish machine, Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence have been retained to hold things together in the midfield.
Defensive meetings have focused on moving away from the high-risk ‘hammer’ defence that cost England so many triesduring the autumn.
Slade was at the centre of the plan to fire out of the line to attack the opposition playmaker, but a scaled-back approach is expected in the Irish capital.
‘What we did was very hit and miss,’ admitted Slade.
‘We’re still a line-speed team, we’re still going after players but hopefully we can give ourselves every opportunity to keep staying alive. When you run that hammer D, there’s so many moving parts to it and everything’s got to be right on. There’s a lot of small areas where if one thing’s not right, everything else suffers.
‘Now there’s much better clarity in what we’re getting after. We’re always trying to evolve the D and find ways to improve things. We still want to be aggressive, we still want to be in the opposition’s face, going hard and putting on the skills and the pressure, but we’ve looked at a few areas where we could potentially change a couple of bits.’
As ever Itoje, the new captain, will be expected to set the standard. If he can lead the team for 80 minutes, ending the run of defeats, then the serenity could last for the entire Six Nations. Otherwise, the outlook will not be so rosy.
