Owen Farrell set for No 10 return for England as Ford faces Fiji heartbreak

England coach Steve Borthwick is set to rip up his backline for this weekend’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal and hand captain Owen Farrell the No 10 shirt.

Farrell is poised to move to stand-off with George Ford – the hero of the crucial pool stage win of Argentina – dropped while Marcus Smith is line to start at full-back at the expense of Freddie Steward in the do-or-die game.

Farrell played at centre outside Ford in the narrow win over Samoa last weekend but the unconvincing performance from England has prompted a rethink from Borthwick.

Provided he is fit for the game – his left knee was heavily strapped in training yesterday – Farrell looks likely to be given the keys to the castle in what would be a tough call on Ford.

Starting Smith at full-back would represent a gamble since he has never played a club game there but he has impressed off the bench in the role for England and would offer more of a creative threat than Steward.

England are in determined mood having sat through a video nasty of their August defeat to Fiji on Wednesday.

Defence coach Kevin Sinfield subjected the side to some of the lowlights from Engaldn’s first defeat to the Pacific Islanders in their history to spark a response ahead of the re-match in Marseille.

“A few clips were brought up by Kev Sinfield. He said: ‘I wasn’t sure about showing you this, but we can’t be this team again’. It was Fiji running riot at Twickenham and it was like: ‘that can’t happen’,” said England hooker Jamie George.

“You don’t like to be reminded of those things – it gets the leg going a little bit – but if that can fuel the fire then why not? You don’t want to let a bloke like that down. When he tells you to run, he is one bloke with enough credit in the bank to make sure you do some running.

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“It has been received really well and the way we trained today showed our intent is going to be very different.

“There was a bite to it today which is always encouraging on a Wednesday ahead of a Sunday game.”

The 30-22 defeat was the first to Fiji in England’s history but George feels it was a turning point for the side who have won four from four since at the World Cup.

“It was almost like a line in the sand for us to step forward from. We learned a huge amount that week and we are a significantly better team on the back of it,” he said.

“We probably got a few things wrong tactically that week and emotionally and physically we were off for whatever reason. We are very clear about what we need to get right this weekend and we are confident if we get those things right we will be successful.”

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