"Bring back Slade" - Sir Ian McGeechan picks his England team for the Six Nations

England concluded their Rugby World Cup journey with a hard-fought triumph, narrowly defeating a resilient Argentina side in the third-place play-off held in Paris.

For a more comprehensive exploration of McGeechan's strategic insights, be sure to read his complete column in The Telegraph by clicking here.

McGeechan wrote: "It looks as though Borthwick has made his call at fly-half with Owen Farrell. A lot of people may not agree with me, but Farrell is a matchwinner. He is a Test match animal. They lacked another playmaker in midfield though, and perhaps that means going back to Henry Slade. 

"Marcus Smith continues to develop well, but needs to be used at fly-half with two specialist centres."

McGeechan wrote: "Steward is outstanding in a kicking game but if you have two quick wingers you can vary the attack. England need speed and better balance in this area – the likes of Arundell or Adam Radwan."

McGeechan wrote: "I was impressed with the back row of Tom Curry, Sam Underhill and Ben Earl. That combination leads to a challenge in competing at the line-out, but that is Borthwick’s area of expertise. You saw Curry up at the front – they might not be the biggest, but you can catch teams out by getting those players up quickly, with a big No 6 on the bench just in case."

Brown contends that by implementing the right systems, England can become strong contenders for both the Six Nations championship and even the world title within the next four years.

Brown began in his column for the Mail Online: "England can be serious challengers for the World Cup in 2027. 100 per cent. The talent is there. I see it in the Premiership every week.

"They just need to put the right systems and playing style in place to step up."

Brown wrote: "I’d love to see Ellis Genge take over as skipper. He’s the right age, the players like him and he speaks openly and honestly. Maybe Ben Earl could be his back-up because he also speaks well and he’s been the breakthrough player with the potential to become world class."

Brown wrote: "I’d love to see Cadan Murley and Tommy Freeman come in on the wings. Manu Tuilagi won’t be around forever and Joe Marchant is going to France, so do you bring back Henry Slade? They desperately need to start building some depth there.

"Freeman could be even be an option at 13, alongside Will Joseph and Dan Kelly. There are some great tries being scored in the Premiership and these guys have the ability to develop another dimension to the attack."

Brown wrote: "You can’t build a style by swapping Marcus Smith and Freddie Steward around at full back every week because they’re so different.

"I don’t think Smith is the long-term full back. He has not played in any really testing games. Fiji tested him a little bit and he didn’t pass the test for me. His decision-making at the back was exposed a few times and you can’t get away with that against the top teams."