England set to drop Ford, start Smith at fullback in Fiji quarter-final

MARSEILLE, France : England coach Steve Borthwick looks set to make radical changes for Sunday's World Cup quarter-final against Fiji by dropping George Ford and starting Marcus Smith at fullback, strengthening his midfield defence and injecting some energy into the attack.

Borthwick names his team on Friday but British media said on Thursday that Ford, man of the match in the first two games when Owen Farrell was suspended, will be jettisoned, with the captain reclaiming the flyhalf berth.

Smith, a flyhalf for Harlequins, has looked England's most dangerous player in France, either off the bench or when he started against Chile and, after a poor attacking display against Samoa last weekend, it appears that Borthwick has decided to give him another start.

That would be tough on Freddie Steward, one of England's most consistent performers in recent years and who started 28 successive tests until being rested against Chile.

However, while his defence and aerial skills are superior to Smith's, Steward has shown little in attack - though he is far from alone there.

Such a shuffle means that Borthwick can play two specialist centres. Manu Tuilagi looks certain to be one of them, with Joe Marchant and Elliot Daly, who tops England's chart for "dominant tackles", probably vying for the other in a beefed-up midfield defence against the marauding Fijians.

Defence generally has not been the issue for England as they racked up four wins in a row. Before the Samoa game they had the best defence in the tournament and had conceded only one try.

England were somewhat exposed by Samoa's hard running lines and accurate passing as they scraped an 18-17 win in their final pool match but, as Borthwick said after the game, that should have been a