England number8 Billy Vunipola could be kicked out of the England squad if he’s handed a lengthy ban for his red card against Ireland.
His red card means that if he now gets a subsequent ban, as expected, he could be a doubt for at least some of the Rugby World Cup
Being only the only recognised number 8 in the squad, Borthwick still has a week to change his squad before World Rugby’s official deadline.
Stand-in captain Courtney Lawes dressed the decision post-match when speaking to Prime Video.
He said: “Split-second decisions, things happen, people want to get us on the front foot and unfortunately mistakes like that happen,” he told Prime Video in a post-match interview.
“People aren’t doing this on purpose, it’s not we need to just tackle lower,” he continued. “What more can you do? We’re not trying to hurt each other as I say, split-second decisions, sometimes mistakes happen.
“We’ve got to try and make the sport safe for everyone who plays and that’s why sanctions like this are put into place and we got a red card for it.”
Billy Vunipola replacement
Alex Dombrandt will be the next player called up if Billy Vunipola is handed a lengthy ban.
Below, we look at four changes Borthwick should make for England’s final home match against Fiji ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Check out Borthwick’s standby list for every position here.
“0/10” – Four England players Steve Borthwick must drop, and who should replace them
#1. Billy Vunipola
Telegraph 2/10: “Spilled a clearance kick, to the delight of Dublin. His head shot on Andrew Porter was inevitably upgraded to a red by the bunker. Another ban looms, as does a crisis at No.8 for Borthwick. “
Rugby Pass 0/10: “Having failed to sparkle seven days earlier, a huge step forward in performance was needed. It didn’t happen, his day ending with a red card via the TMO bunker. Borthwick claims Vunipola is as fit as he has ever seen him but that S&C didn’t emerge in this display where he looked leggy getting around despite being level with Genge at the short whistle on the pack ball-carrying metres. Two penalty concessions and a cheap knock-on that generated jeers from the home crowd highlight his first half difficulties. Sent packing for his yellow-carded shot on Andrew Porter 13 minutes into the second half, an incident soon upgraded to red due to “high degree of danger, no wrap, no mitigation”.”
REPLACEMENT: Who knows with no other recognises number 8’s in the squad. Maybe, Tom Curry?