'Fin's First Start & Cole's Not Retiring' - 5 Talking Points: Steve Borthwick's England Squad to Play All Blacks at Eden Park

Borthwick has made just one change to the match day squad, after his England side finished agonisingly close last Saturday in Dunedin. The Forsyth Barr Stadium almost witnessed the first England win against the All Blacks on New Zealand soil since 2003, yet Scott Robertson's new side held firm for a nail-biting 16-15 win. Borthwick's sole change sees Harlequins prop Fin Baxter get his first Test match start, as he replaces Joe Marler on the loose-head.

The veteran prop injured his foot and was seen around England's team hotel upon crutches whilst wearing a medical boot. Marler is reported to have injured his foot in a scrum, yet remains in the England camp to mentor young Baxter, with the 22-year-old getting his first start this Saturday at Eden Park. Here are the top five talking points from Steve Borthwick's press conference, beginning with the news of Baxter taking the number one jersey.

So, to immediately address the sole change of the match day 23, Baxter's adrenaline is pumping as he prepares to take the fight to New Zealand for his first start in an England jersey. Steve Borthwick has been tremendously impressed by the quality of the young loose-head's scrummaging, and is delighted to see Marler remain in camp as his protoge makes his maiden England start.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "We’re obviously disappointed that Joe (Marler) is injured and unavailable for selection. He had the option to go back home but he has decided to stay out this week and continue to help the team, which is a great statement about him and the spirit amongst the players here.

"I thought Fin did really well coming off the bench and, as you know, I want consistency in the team – I want to build the relationships in this young team and guys’ understanding of each other. I see a team that has grown. There’s still lots to learn but the team is growing.’

"I see him as a really composed, calm young man. He is eager to learn and clearly has a great relationship with Joe Marler, so he has a great mentor and assistance right there. He’s a guy who seems to take things in his stride."

"The scrum is a great challenge. We knew before the game that New Zealand have a top-quality scrum – they and South Africa have the top two scrums in the world. It is a great challenge, especially for young props.

"We could talk about that before the Test match last week, we could show the players videos and try to replicate things in training, but now players like Fin have scrummed against them so they understand a bit more about their players and how they scrum."

England prop Dan Cole is set to make an impressive appearence record this weekend, as the Leicester man overtakes Jason Leonard in all-time caps. Cole has been named on the bench for Saturday's Test against the All Blacks, and upon making a replacement appearence he will accrue his 115th cap for England.

The 37-year-old will move up to second in the all-time charts, with just his long time Leicester friend Ben Youngs in his way, with 127 caps. Both Borthwick and his England captain Jamie George expressed their congratulations of the tight-head, with Cole set to receive a special pre-match commendation before England head to Eden Park on Saturday. The 'Cola-Bear' has had no retirement talks with Borthwick, with the head coach hammering this home today.

STEVE BORTHWICK: “That (Cole's retirement) is not a conversation I have had with Dan Cole. Dan knows how much I value him. I am sure how much I value him and his wife certainly knows how important he is to the team. I have had that conversation with her as well.

“At some point after a break we will have a conversation like we did after the World Cup and after the Six Nations and I will ask him what his feelings are. I have enormous respect for him. After he got his 100^th (cap) I sat at the post-match dinner with him and his wife and she said to me: ‘Steve thank you he is at peace now.’ I looked around just to check and said he has got plenty more Test matches for England in him. She said: ‘Yeah.’

“I asked him after the World Cup, how do you feel. I asked him after the Six Nations I will have that conversation again in due course but that’s not a conversation for this week. This week he has got a Test match to go and play and he has got a huge role in this Test match. Even if I tried to have the conversation with him this week, I think he would tell me ‘Steve, I have got a Test match to focus on."

JAMIE GEORGE: "He hasn't yet (had his commendation) there will be on Friday. That's generally when we do things on the captain's meeting the night before the game, it's just the players. So we certainly will be acknowledging that, it's an incredible achievement for an incredible man who's done so many amazing things for English rugby.

“And I think, when you take into account the amount of time that he's been out of this English team, and how hard he's had to work to get back into it, I think it's an incredible story, really, and he's a huge inspiration to all of us. “To any young prop out there about how you know, he made the most out of what you have. I think he's done that in spades.”

3. All Blacks scrummaging under scrutiny - Nic Berry entrusted for refereeing Test

A key element of discussion throughout this week's match build up, was that of the All Blacks' scrummaging and the performance of the referee last Saturday. There has been heavy scrutiny upon New Zealand prop Ethan de Groot, with the Highlanders loose-head often seen to be wheeling away from the pack. The likes of Adam Jones, Brian Moore and David Flatman have all cast their contempt towards the scrummaging, and how it was officiated in Dunedin.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "We have our call with the referee, Nic Berry, this evening. He was on touch as an AR (assistant referee) last week so he would have had a very good view of all aspects of the game. We’ll ask him the areas he has seen and what his view of the game this weekend will be. Clearly, the scrum will be one of those areas we will ask for his view on."

"I leave the officiating to the officials and talk to my team very much about controlling the controllables. That is the consistent mantra we have. That is why I never discuss the officiating publicly or with the players. That’s not something we can control."

"I feel myself and Joel Jutge (World Rugby Head of Match Officials) have a great relationship and after each game, if there are some things we want to clarify, it is a normal process that we will ask for clarification. It means we can continue to have that clarity in the way we coach the players. Joel always gives us clarity. We will ask for Nic Berry’s perspective and we will obviously put forward what we have seen, and have a conversation. That’s the approach we always have with the officials."

JAMIE GEORGE: "We've been here before. What I'll say on it, I think like what people have said is out there and it's pretty clear to see. We've had some some good feedback from World Rugby around what their take on it was. I think we've got every confidence in Nic Berry making sure that he makes the right call this weekend.”

Steve Borthwick confirmed that Fly half Marcus Smith will be taking the kicks at goal this Saturday, despite the Harlequin having a disappointing outing from the tee in Dunedin. The halfback missed a handful of shots at goal, which he would have routinely slotted through the uprights. Putting aside the underwhelming performance from Smith's high standards, Borthwick confirmed in a succinct manner, that he is entrusting his 10 to take the lead from the tee once more.

STEVE BORTHWICK: “Marcus Smith will be taking the first goal kick on Saturday.”

There has been no ignoring the 'Eden Park effect', that comes with the territory as the All Blacks arrive in Auckland. It has been well documented throughout the past week, that the 48 consecutive Test match winning streak adds a special aura to Saturday's game, with everything to lose from an All Blacks perspective.

Borthwick believes that such incredible home-field form, can at times be influenced by the officiating. Whilst the England head coach did not indulge the media with the intricacies of sports psychology, the point he was making was clear. The All Blacks bring an extra element to Eden Park, that can more often than not play to their benefit with some favourable decisions.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "It is down to the refereeing factor. Every study I have read says it comes down to the impact it has on the referee."

"You will have to read the social science of it. When they started doing the studies through Covid, when there weren’t supporters in the ground and the impact on officiating. You are testing my memory now but it generally has an impact on the referee.

"To be clear, you asked me a question. I am not trying to talk about officiating. I don’t. For us, our boys are excited to get out there. What a brilliant place to go and play rugby. What a brilliant series. The boys were eager to go to Tokyo and play in the heat, and they delivered in the heat.

"Then we go down to Dunedin and play indoors and it as really fast and the players loved that challenge; gutted that we didn’t get a result, losing by a point. Now we are in the open air in Auckland at Eden Park, what a brilliant place to go and play. We were expecting winter to be a bit different boys were then eager to go and play indoors in Dunedin."