England’s secret weapon is being overlooked amid the attacking hype

Don’t ever forget that for attacking flair to flourish in rugby, the foundations must be built up front. David Flatman, the former England prop and now TV pundit, hasn’t. “You want to talk about the bookends, the gorillas?” he says with a chuckle when asked about England having all their top prop forwards back together after injury, and looking better for it in last week’s 45-22 thrashing of Australia. “It’s not the only reason, but it’s no surprise that England have the first-choice lads fit and firing, and suddenly they look significantly improved. The front row, it’s a real position of strength for England.” Will Stuart’s recovery from an Achilles injury means he and Joe Heyes are together again as England’s first-choices on the tighthead side of the scrum – the “dirty job,” as former England hooker and captain Dylan Hartley memorably wrote. “A horrible position to play and they tend to be big, fat and dense – but, boy, are they valuable.” At the same time, loosehead prop Fin Baxter announced his comeback after nine months out with an injured foot by making beautiful offloads in Harlequins’ win over Saracens last month. England powered to an impressive 45-22 victory over Australia at Twickenham (Photo: Getty) This welcome burst of restoration has made England’s head coach Steve Borthwick noticeably chipper. “Having that depth of competition, it feels more like it did 12 months ago,” Borthwick said after the Australia match, harking back to England’s run of 11 Test wins in 2025. “Having those two front row units… I’m excited about that.” Borthwick chose the same front-row formation against Australia last week as he did in the win over them last November: Baxter and Heyes starting with Jamie George as their hooker, and Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Stuart on from the bench. It was the same too, in last year’s win over New Zealand, so don’t be surprised to see it when the All Blacks roll into Twickenham next week. For Saturday’s meeting with Japan, Borthwick has rotated to start with Genge, Cowan-Dickie and Asher Opoku-Fordjour, as he did in beating Argentina a year ago. In between times, when England crashed to their worst set of Six Nations results in February and March, Baxter, Stuart and Opoku-Fordjour were injured, and Bevan Rodd and Trevor Davison stepped in. Genge was dropped to the bench against Australia (Photo: Getty) “Great backs like Fin Smith and Tommy Freeman and George Furbank and Max Ojomoh and Manny Feyi-Waboso are all well and good,” says Flatman. “But it’s a bit like having a football team with Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front, and me and my dad as the centre-backs. You’ll score some goals, but ultimately the foundations aren’t there. It’s the same in rugby, if you haven’t got a front row. “The most space on the field is during set-pieces. With all the forwards in one place, it’s the best time to get exactly the ball you want. If you’ve got players who can guarantee you the ball you want, and to disrupt the opposition, there is a much stronger chance that you win.” England’s scrum on Sunday was not fault-free. They conceded one penalty for Heyes collapsing, and three free-kicks for early engagements and a rare no-hook call. On the upside, they earned a penalty in each half, and one free-kick. The line-out operated at a satisfying 94 per cent, plus one steal, and George and Heyes scored tries from mauls. “The saying of ‘no scrum, no win’ is a real thing,” says Flatman. “And I think South Africa are the world’s best scrum. But if England were playing South Africa this weekend, I genuinely do not think they would get beaten up at scrum time. “The one problem you could have is [South Africa’s loosehead] Ox Nche because there’s no tighthead in the world that he can’t absolutely toast if the opponents get it wrong. But with Heyes and Stuart, I would back England to have a good day. And England are the only team in the world about whom I would say that.” Read more Eddie Jones: England fans still thank me for what I did – it makes me emotional Jonathan Joseph: My England teammate owned up to a media leak – it made us stronger Genge is the constant factor for England, whether starting or from the bench. And the 31-year-old Bristolian has wowed Flatman this season. “Gengey is definitely bigger than he was two years ago, and it’s really helped his scrummaging,” says Flatman. “What often comes with that is the bit that got him there – the carrying, the explosiveness – goes away. But I was at Bristol watching Gengey play two weeks ago – and I’m at pitchside for all these games – and I was wincing. “Everyone knows he’s coming, they’re calling his name and they’re gang-tackling him – and he’s battering them. This guy’s carrying is unbelievable; the power and weight he takes in. He is top of the range.”