Close bond between Smith and Murley can benefit England’s...

Harlequins duo are close friends and can boost the cohesion of Steve Borthwick’s side against Ireland on Saturday. The buildup to a fixture between England and Ireland has not truly begun until someone mentions the C-word, so step forward Steve Borthwick to name his side for England’s daunting Six Nations opener in Dublin two days early and officially set the hare running.

Image Credit: the Guardian [Cadan Murley and Marcus Smith celebrate a try.]

It is getting a little tired now but the narrative goes that Ireland can boast a level of “cohesion” that is the envy of the world while England are a mishmash, thrown together from nine different clubs and trying desperately to get on the same page.

That Ireland are their first opponents only heightens the supposed contrast. Maro Itoje, who is just over a week into his tenure as England captain, has taken it upon himself to encourage members of the squad to stand up in front of the rest of the group and bare their souls.

“A big aspect of this week or so since we have been here in camp is getting to know one another and that’s been really important,” said Borthwick. “This is a squad that hasn’t been together a long time. There is a great contrast between where we are and the Ireland squad which has been so stable for so many years. We’re ensuring that we get to know each other really well.”.

It goes some way to explaining why Borthwick has resisted any temptation to carry out surgery on his side, sticking with Marcus Smith at fly-half as one of 10 players who started the last November Test against Japan. The return of Alex Mitchell was a given while Luke Cowan-Dickie and Freddie Steward are selected due to injuries elsewhere. The two most eye-catching selections are Ben Curry – and how better to achieve cohesion than selecting an in-form flanker to play alongside his twin brother – and Cadan Murley who makes his debut. Murley is best friends with his Harlequins teammate Smith, the two are thick as thieves off the pitch, have a telepathic understanding on it and given Smith’s instinctive idiosyncrasies can sometimes be hard for his teammates to follow, it is a significant selection. In much the same way that Smith and Joe Marchant would link up to impressive effect before the centre became ineligible after moving to France, so Murley will now be asked to dovetail with the mercurial fly-half.