Matt Dawson column: Steve Borthwick's England to-do list

Steve Borthwick takes charge of England with 47 days until the start of the Six Nations and less than nine months until the start of the Rugby World Cup. There is little time to waste.

These are the five items at the top of his to-do list.

• England appoint Borthwick as head coach

1. A selection conundrum

Marcus Smith, Owen Farrell and Manu Tuilagi were the preferred combination by the end of Eddie Jones' reign

The immediate priority for Borthwick is to sort out the attacking heart of the team - the fly-half, inside and outside centre.

During the autumn, we saw Marcus Smith, Owen Farrell and Manu Tuilagi fill those positions. It was Eddie Jones' preferred combination, but we didn't see the cutting edge we all wanted.

If Borthwick is going to use his arrival for an honest assessment of where England are, then Farrell's place is under threat.

His form over the past three years has been nowhere near where it was before that. For all the leadership in training and setting of standards off the pitch, he has not been performing as he can.

Statistically there are better inside centres in the Premiership, ranging from the very experienced to the new. Could any of them build a relationship with Smith, allowing him to become the general of this England side?

Whatever the solution, time is short. Borthwick needs to be consistent in his selection through that area to build an understanding of each other's games and the team's gameplan collectively.

2. Choose a captain

Borthwick played alongside and against Courtney Lawes, who led England in Farrell's absence in autumn 2021

Regardless of his place in the team, I would be very surprised if Farrell continues as captain.

Relieving him of the press commitment and public scrutiny might free him up and help him find his game.

And there are plenty of candidates, well known to Borthwick, to take it on.

When Borthwick picked Ellis Genge to succeed Tom Youngs as Leicester captain, it was seen by some as a surprise choice. But it paid off handsomely with Genge leading the Tigers to the Premiership.

Borthwick has seen Maro Itoje since the start. A teenage Itoje made his Saracens debut in Borthwick's final season as a player at the club.

Courtney Lawes has been a hugely successful England captain when he has played and has a different style to Farrell. Borthwick captained him for England and coached him for the Lions.

Could it be a left-field shout like Jamie George, who Borthwick has worked with extensively at Saracens and in his role as England's line-out guru?

Having a forward as a captain - as all the above are - can be an advantage with a front-row seat for the set-piece and the breakdown.

3. Define England's attacking identity

England scored only eight tries in the 2022 Six Nations, five of which came in one game against Italy

There is a twin challenge. The team have lacked a consistent method of breaking down the opposition for a number of years now. For me, Jones was too focused on the game's global comings and goings - what other teams were doing tactically, how the laws were being interpreted elsewhere

He was always trying to be one step ahead of the trends when he decided how England were going to play.

You have to have an identity which is the core way of how you are going to play. You certainly need options around that to adapt to opposition, officials and conditions, but that bedrock has to be there.

England's best performances have come when they have taken games by the scruff of the neck, decided the tempo and run riot from the start.

The Rugby World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand in 2019 under Jones - arguably the greatest game England have ever played - came from pinning back the All Blacks and forcing them to adapt and switch styles.

The second part is England need to have the decision-makers in the team and a chain of command that can be nimble and agile enough to find another way to win.

Too often, when South Africa, France or Scotland have produced something unexpected, England have been too sluggish to change styles.

4. Reignite the players

Team-bonding activities have included giant paddleboarding in Jersey

I don't believe England are less strong or fit than the All Blacks or Springboks. I just don't believe it. But in the scrum they were shoved backwards in the final two matches of Jones' reign.

It isn't just the technical aspects of the set-piece, I think England are a tiny percentage off in mentality. Everyone is motivated to play for their country, but to get that thin margin of focus and desire that may be the difference. You need something more.

You have to wake up in the morning and get really excited about what you are doing day to day. Judging by some of the players' comments, that hasn't always been the case.

It is fundamental for Steve. He clearly has done something special at Leicester, turning a team of also-rans into champions.

If he can recreate some of that environment with England, the players there are going to get a real shot in the arm to carry them into the Rugby World Cup.

5. Reconnect the fans

England's matches are the prime source of revenue for the Rugby Football Union

This is one of the easier ones, but the connection to England's fans at Twickenham needs to be re-established. The boos at the end of the autumn defeat by the Springboks showed that relationship had been damaged.

Borthwick is not going to be a front-and-centre ringmaster, doing the television interviews and dropping buzz words. That is not his style. But he will know that England need to be doing more in exciting fans with how they play on the pitch and engaging with them off it.

It will be a real benefit to his team. Twickenham, when it is full of 80,000 fans and rocking, is a really difficult place to come and play.

At the end of the Jones era, teams fancied their chances of silencing the crowd and robbing England of momentum.

Matt Dawson was speaking to BBC Sport's Mike Henson.