Thank you very much for joining us today as we brought you news of England head coach Steve Borthwick's team selection before Saturday's Six Nations finale in France.

Scroll down the page or check out the summary to read all of the news, reaction and analysis, as well as a Q&A with BBC Sport's rugby union news reporter Chris Jones.

See you all again for live text coverage of Saturday's final three fixtures, culminating with France v England at 20:10 GMT.

Until then...

Mike Henson
BBC Sport at Murrayfield

Ben Earl, who took on much of the ball-carrying against Italy, continues at number eight as part of a back row that has more heft than previous combinations selected by head coach Steve Borthwick.

A little over a fortnight ago, in the 42-21 loss to Ireland at Twickenham, he fielded Henry Pollock, alongside Tom Curry and Earl in a trio that instead prioritised speed and breakdown work.

Elsewhere, the side is unchanged, with Fin Smith continuing at fly-half, Seb Atkinson and Tommy Freeman in the centres and Alex Coles partnering captain Maro Itoje in the second row.

Underhill and Marcus Smith could win their 50th England caps off the bench.

Mike Henson
BBC Sport at Murrayfield

Image source, Getty Images

Under-pressure England have made a solitary change to their line-up to face France in the final round of the Six Nations on Saturday with Ollie Chessum coming into the back row.

The versatile Chessum, 25, started the first three games of England's campaign in the second row but will add weight, ball-carrying power and a useful line-out option as blind-side flanker.

With Tom Curry out with a calf injury sustained in the warm-up of their loss to Italy, Guy Pepper shifts to open-side.

Sam Underhill, who came into the starting line-up as a last-minute replacement for Curry in Rome, drops to the bench.

Right, that's all from Chris Jones.

Now, in case you missed it, here is the XV which Steve Borthwick has named to face France on Saturday.

England: Daly; Roebuck, Freeman, S Atkinson, Murley; F Smith, Spencer; Genge, George, Heyes, Itoje (capt), Coles, Chessum, Pepper, Earl

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Rodd, Davison, Cunningham-South, Underhill, Pollock, Van Poortvliet, M Smith

Chris Jones
BBC rugby union correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Brian: Chris, who do you see as leadership group in this team? From Steve Borthwick's post-match comments last week, it seemed that after Maro Itoje it was Jamie George. And then the cupboard is bare. What's happened to Ellis Genge as vice captain. Who else put their hand up?

Chris: Hi Brian. The wider England leadership group, as far as I understand, includes: Maro Itoje as captain and then Jamie George, George Ford and Ellis Genge as vices.

Fraser Dingwall, Elliot Daly, Henry Slade and Ben Earl also have a role in the leadership group.

For this game, George and Genge are vice-captains.

Chris Jones
BBC rugby union correspondent

James: With England seemingly lacking ball carriers in this starting pack, surely Tom Pearson should be given another look at? He’s having a quality season at Saints and would add proper dynamism to this back row and take the weight off Earl to carry so much.

Chris: Hi James. Agreed, the reliance of Earl to carry ball has been remarkable this campaign. That is 100% something for Borthwick to look at ahead of the summer matches.

Chris Jones
BBC rugby union correspondent

JH: Hi Chris, I’m sure you’ve read the comments from Ben Earl after the Italy game, who thought they gave an "unbelievable performance" for 60 minutes. Is that sentiment shared within the squad? I would have expected a lot more anger/frustration, but we haven’t seen that in any interviews/comments.

Chris: Hi JH. It's a tricky one isn't it. After Ireland, Ellis Genge poured his heart out and apologised to the fans, while Earl chose to focus on the first hour of the game, in which England worked themselves into an 18-10 lead. Each player will have a different way of coping with a disappointing performance. I don't think it means they care any more or less. But equally, supporters do need honesty and an acceptance that what England have been producing falls short of the standards required of the England team.

Chris Jones
BBC rugby union correspondent

Will: Is giving Borthwick until the summer partly the RFU giving themselves time to think through successor options, if it comes to that? Who are possible options?

Chris: The RFU statement tried to do a number of things at once: placate frustrated fans while backing Borthwick, but in the process also suggesting the support is not unconditional! There was no mention of the 2027 World Cup, only the France game and the summer matches.

Ultimately, the RFU don't want to be in a position where they need to make a change halfway towards the end of a World Cup cycle, just like they did in 2022. But equally they will need proof, fast, that the team is not on a downward slide to the point of being broken, which makes Saturday a very important game. Borthwick will need to show he can set the team up to challenge France in the Stade de France, and the players will need to show they are still playing for each other, and their head coach.

Chris Jones
BBC rugby union correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Louis: Why isn't Marcus Smith getting a look-in at 10? He's England's X factor and also has the game management to thrive.

Will: What will it take for Marcus Smith to get a start for England? Attack isn't firing and you've got one of the most creative players in world rugby available, sticks with Fin and Daly at 15... I like Daly, but is he really going to the next World Cup?

Chris: Hi Louis and Will. You are two of many asking about Marcus Smith! When it comes to being the starting fly-half, the England management clearly feel Ford and Fin Smith have the edge when it comes to game-management and the various things you need to be an international 10.

But England have been chronically bad with regards turning pressure into points in the last three games. Marcus Smith can provide spark and that needs to be harnessed, whether he is at 10 or 23.

Right, before Chris Jones turned his attention to Steve Borthwick's news conference, he was answering your questions.

Let's return to the final installment of his Q&A now before we close this page at 17:00 GMT.

England Rugby

A final word from England head coach Steve Borthwick on the exchange between Fin Smith and Maro Itoje in the second half of Saturday's defeat to Italy in Rome:

"It was very clear. Captain always has final say, what decisions they choose to do. And he's obviously given that different considerations that he has and he weighs it all up and what he feels is the right thing to do.

"I think in many ways for Finn Smith and for other players to be able to express their opinion and feel so passionate about having an opinion and what we need to do, I see that as a strength.

"I think it'd be more worrying if players didn't open their mouths, if players didn't say anything. The clear thing is the captain always has final say."

England Rugby

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Steve Borthwick on the backing he has received from the RFU to remain in his position as England head coach:

"Ever since I started this role back in late 2022, Connor O'Shea and Bill Sweeney and I, we have always worked very, very closely together. I speak with Connor O'Shea pretty much on a daily basis and with Bill Sweeney at least once or twice every week.

"I think that I've always been very clear on the vision of the team going very quickly into the 2023 World Cup - it was just around the corner - and then ever since then building through each of these competition windows post that World Cup, very clear on what we're trying to achieve.

"We are all disappointed and frustrated. We came to this tournament with really high aspirations and we've been unable to meet those targets we set for ourselves.

"We are deeply frustrated but now we're looking towards finishing the tournament the way we want to against France."

England Rugby

England head coach Steve Borthwick on whether his gameplan gives players freedom to play:

"There's probably a slight misunderstanding about what our gameplan is. With an international team, you have an overview, a structure of this is how we want to approach the different aspects of the game. And then we talk about the players bringing their points of difference.

"I think that the England shirt can, at times, weigh heavy. And I think we've worked exceptionally hard to try and alleviate that, to try and get the players to play fast rugby.

"I want the ball to move. I want them to be brave. And I talk about playing brave. I talk about playing big.

"In the last two or three weeks, there's been times where the shirt looks like it's weighed a bit heavy.

"We're working on converting opportunities, and we're all after the transfer from the training field into the Test match arena."

England Rugby

Steve Borthwick on criticism of England's style of play under him:

"I look at that every single week. Fundamentally, have we created opportunities? I think it's undeniable there's a lot of opportunities.

"Where does the frustration come from? Is it our inability to convert those opportunities? I recognise that I've said that before. We are working to try and improve that.

"I think that if we were more effective from an attacking side in converting those opportunities, we would be talking about different scorelines, different results. I think we'd be talking about many more tries being scored as England have done throughout 2025 and even the latter part of 2024.

"It's a team that's been able to score tries and clearly the last three games, that's not been the case, so I respect there's lots of discussion around tactical plans. I think when you look at the end point, look at the result, and you look at the number of tries scored - that's completely understandable.

"I think it's more about improving that incisiveness with our attack and getting over the try line rather than any major overhaul being necessary."

England Rugby

England head coach Steve Borthwick on whether the line-out was a factor in his selection:

"There's always a number of factors around the selection process. It's always a mix and a blend of them. It's less about trying to match the opposition or what we need to do.

"There's always the strengths they bring and what we want to bring in terms of that plan, I think this is another part of that versatility and I think you can look at the bench and you can see the quality of player that we've got to bring on in the back five of the scrum.

"Clearly, that was our intention last Saturday in that second half - it was to bring those players on in the back five of the scrum, but bring them on a lot earlier than we wanted than we actually did and that was a result of those yellow cards, which inhibited us.

"We intend this week to ensure we've got 15 players on the pitch and we're able to use the bench as effectively as we've previously done over the last 12 months."

England Rugby

More from Steve Borthwick on England's performance against Italy:

"Clearly we are bitterly disappointed, frustrated and hurt. It wasn't the result we worked for or wanted for the team or our supporters. The nature of how much we all care is why it hurts so much. We chatted after the game on Saturday for 60 minutes, a lot of the team built through the game against potentially the strongest Italian side we've faced.

"It started as an arm wrestle, gradually we worked through that period and at 60 minutes we were looking very strong. Unfortunately, the two yellow cards in the last 20 minutes.

"Credit to Italy for taking their opportunity."

Image source, Getty Images

England Rugby

England head coach Steve Borthwick on why his players need to balance "composure" with "dogged determination and fire":

"People always talk about the players and how much they care. These players care enormously for this team and about getting results and for connecting with the supporters. That's the reason why it hurts so much.

"There's been a factor of players trying maybe a little bit too hard - that's certainly a factor.

"What we need to do is ensure that at the time we need to show composure, we have that, and at the times when we need sheer dogged determination and fire, that we have it at those times as well."

England Rugby

More from Steve Borthwick on his England players' discipline during the Six Nations:

"We've addressed the number of cards. Four games into this tournament now and we've got seven yellow cards and a red card. Effectively, for more than one of those games, we've been playing with a man down, which adds an enormous load and gives the opposition more opportunity as well and makes it harder for us to make those opportunities.

"There's a blend of different causes. It would be simple if it were always one thing.

"This team has been generally good, if you look at Argentina in the summer, we conceded 11 or 12 penalties over the two Tests combined.

"We need to be back to that standard. There's certainly a number of areas that we've not performed at the standard we wanted."

Image source, Getty Images

England Rugby

England head coach Steve Borthwick speaking to BBC Sport on making just one change to his starting XV:

"Ollie Chessum's the change to the starting 15. Ollie was disappointed that he wasn't starting post the Ireland game, he was disappointed and frustrated with his performance in the Ireland game. I thought he came on against Italy and did a really good job, from a ball-carrying perspective, from a line-out perspective, the contact area, the energy he gave to the team.

"So I think at the same time Alex Coles, he's developed so much as a player over the last period and I think he's played strong in all the minutes he's had in this tournament.

"I thought Maro Itoje on Saturday, I saw signs of Maro really starting to produce, we all saw the number of turnovers he won and the presence he had around the pitch.

"It's a way of having all three of them on the pitch this weekend, with Tom Curry being unavailable.

"The other factor is that France are a strong side, they move as a forward pack. And they are always very athletic and powerful and having Ollie Chessum in the back row helps."

Image source, Getty Images

England head coach Steve Borthwick has been holding a news conference following his team selection.

The squad have stayed in Verona following their defeat to Italy in Rome and will be heading to Paris later this week for Saturday's final Six Nations match of the 2026 campaign.

The top lines from Borthwick are coming up...

Image source, BBC Sport