Borthwick was without many of his top stars for the summer tour of Argentina and the United States as it coincided with the British and Irish Lions’ trip to Australia.
A relatively inexperienced squad won all three matches on that tour to continue the momentum of England’s fine end to the Six Nations, which had begun with a 27-22 defeat by Ireland in Dublin.
That remains their only loss of 2025, with a home Test against Argentina on Sunday rounding off England’s schedule for the calendar year.
Those displays in the summer only increased the competition for places, as was demonstrated by those who were not involved against the All Blacks.
Fin Smith, England’s first-choice fly-half for much of the Six Nations, did not feature in the matchday 23 on Saturday, while Lions trio Tommy Freeman, Ollie Chessum and Elliot Daly are among a group of players with legitimate claims to have been involved but for their respective injuries.
Starting XV v New Zealand (15 November, 2025): Freddie Steward; Tom Roebuck, Ollie Lawrence, Fraser Dingwall, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso; George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Fin Baxter, Jamie George, Joe Heyes, Maro Itoje (captain), Alex Coles, Guy Pepper, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Curry, Henry Pollock, Ben Spencer, Marcus Smith.
