Borthwick's big selections pay off for England

MARSEILLE, France : England coach Steve Borthwick's selections for Sunday's World Cup quarter-final paid off handsomely in the 30-24 victory over Fiji but he dismissed any suggestion that they were vindicated by the performance, or that they needed to be.

His biggest call was bringing in Marcus Smith at fullback, and though his skipping runs rarely broke the Fijian line and he was sometimes gobbled up, his very presence and willingness to take the ball on meant the defence needed to focus on his threat, giving time and space elsewhere.

Some questioned Smith's physicality too in comparison with the giant Freddie Steward, but Smith showed again that he is a hugely brave and technically efficient tackler as he went into battle again and again, finishing bloody and battered after suffering a sickening head collision early in the game.

"I thought he defended with a huge amount of courage," Borthwick said. "Not many people talk about Marcus's defence but I thought his defence was very, very good."

Borthwick's other big decision was to drop George Ford and move Owen Farrell back to flyhalf, and he was rewarded by one of his captain's best international performances for years.

Farrell has always been better at 10 than 12 and he revelled in being the main decision-maker and passed with more sharpness and ambition than at any time during the tournament.

And when it came to his kicking, he made the difference. He landed five of his six penalty attempts, some of them quite testing, one conversion and the key late drop goal that restored England's lead after Fiji had levelled the match with two tries in four minutes.

From the day he got the job, Borthwick has had only the highest of praise for the man he immediately installed as captain and