Borthwick welcomes back Farrell as England ring the changes for Chile

Steve Borthwick has hailed Owen Farrell’s leadership skills and said England “are tremendously excited” to see their captain back on the field against Chile following his return from suspension.

Farrell will take the reins at fly-half from George Ford and the armband from Courtney Lawes as Borthwick made 12 changes in personnel for Saturday’s meeting with the lowest-ranked side in Pool D at Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille.

England’s head coach has taken the opportunity to rest the bulk of his frontline players, including Lawes, full-back Freddie Steward, hooker Jamie George and centre Manu Tuilagi.

However, Ford has not been given the weekend off after being picked on the bench, raising the prospect that three players whose primary position is 10 could be on the field at the same time. At some point in the second half, Farrell and Ford are expected to reprise the playmaking axis that served England well under Eddie Jones until Ford fell out of favour.

As reported in the Guardian on Wednesday, Marcus Smith will provide a cutting edge when starting at full-back for the first time under Borthwick as England look to boost their attack.

Farrell missed the victories over Argentina and Japan in England’s opening Pool D matches in Marseille and Nice following a ban for a dangerous tackle against Wales in the warm-up matches.

“He has been an incredible leader for this team despite being unable to play in the first two games of the World Cup,” Borthwick said, describing Farrell as a role model on and off the training pitch and adding: “He has been a fantastic influence in harnessing all leadership across the whole squad.”

Chile are ranked 22nd in the world and offer the scope to experiment as well as rest key personnel with tougher assignments against Samoa on October 7 and a potential quarter-final to come.

Henry Arundell and Max Malins form the wings, while Ollie Lawrence and Elliot Daly are paired together in a classic centre pairing that mixes ball-carrying clout and dynamic running skills.

Only prop Kyle Sinckler and flanker Lewis Ludlam remain from the pack that overran Japan, with hooker Theo Dan and prop Bevan Rodd present in a raw-looking front row.

“One of the many great things about the World Cup is that the tournament provides an excellent opportunity to play against teams that we rarely have a chance to see. It is for that reason that we are particularly looking forward to testing ourselves against Chile on Saturday,” Borthwick added.

Chile, meanwhile, hand scrum-half Benjamin Videla a first start for Chile as one of nine changes to the team that lost 43-10 to Samoa. The former sevens player won a first cap off the bench against the Pacific islanders and is part of a new-look starting XV for coach Pablo Lemoine.

Full-back Francisco Urroz will get a first run at the World Cup in a back three that also includes wings Franco Velarde and Cristobal Game. Matías Garafulic and Domingo Saavedra have retained their places as the centre pairing, as has fly-half Rodrigo Fernández, who is alongside the 22-year-old Videla.

Matias Dittus is the only survivor in the front row as he packs down with fellow prop Salvador Lues and hooker Augusto Böhme, while Javier Eissmann comes into the team in the second row with Clemente Saavedra.

Captain Martin Sigren, who plays in England for second-tier Doncaster Knights, is on the flank along with Ignacio Silva, and they are part of a back row with No 8 Alfonso Escobar.