Autumn Nations Series: England's Freddie Steward, Fin Baxter on 'Pom squad tactics' and belief ahead of All Blacks Test

For South Africa’s ‘bomb squad’, now read England’s ‘Pom squad’, as revealed by full-back Freddie Steward to Sky Sports this week.

Steve Borthwick’s England host New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, on Saturday for their third Autumn Nations Series fixture, and do so with a bench locked and loaded once more.

One of the enduring images and notions of the South Africa team which would go on to defend their 2019 Rugby World Cup title in France four years later was the self-styled ‘bomb squad’.

Such a rugby idea was rooted in holding back some of the best players within your squad on the replacements bench, and then unloading them all at once within the second half for maximum impact to kick on and win the game. It’s a tactic Borthwick’s England are very visibly starting to employ with success.

In both of England’s victories so far this month against Australia and Fiji, Borthwick unleashed five replacements into his forward pack at the same moment with contests in the balance before his side went on to secure victories.

For the challenge of the All Blacks, six forwards are named on the bench again, with quality such as Ellis Genge, Tom Curry, Chandler Cunningham-South and Henry Pollock held back.

“The Pom squad, we’ve been calling them,” Steward told Sky Sports at England’s training base Pennyhill Park this week.

“They’re a brilliant bunch of guys. You’ve seen over the last couple of years how influential and how important those guys have been and the impact they can have on the score.

“A lot of Test matches are really tight going into that last 20 or 30 minutes so they’re just as important as the starters, as they always are. It’s a massive impact they can have off the bench.

“You can sense the buzz, the excitement around the place. When we reassembled on Sunday night and we all sat in the meeting room and you see the New Zealand badge on the screen and the challenge that’s coming, that gave the boys a bit of excitement.

“It’s fair to say [England have turned a corner]. We have been really good over the last couple of months. The summer was a great opportunity to really build on that squad depth that we have.

“You see the rotation, the players that are available. We’re in a really good place. But saying that, New Zealand is a serious challenge.

“That’s news to me [that England are the bookies’ favourites]. I assumed we’d be going in as underdogs. We know the quality that they have in their team, the strength they have everywhere, particularly in that back-three and the ballplayers they have. We will have to be at our best to get a result.”

England loosehead prop Fin Baxter returns to the starting XV this weekend, having started against the Wallabies before emerging off the bench against Fiji last week.

The 23-year-old admits replacement impact has been a central focus for the squad.

“The last quarter of the game is something we’ve definitely put big emphasis on and we’ve definitely improved since last autumn,” Baxter told Sky Sports.

“We are very good at closing out games now, and it’s something we will look to do.

“Our bench comes on and makes a serious impact. That’s what we talk about during the week.

“I was confused as to why it was called the ‘Pom squad’ at the start of the week, and it’s because against Australia was when we first did it.

“The boys are raring to go and when they come on together, they hype each other up and it’s cool to see.”

Ford: ‘Pom squad’ bench has been incredible for us

England fly-half George Ford speaking to Sky Sports from Pennyhill Park on Thursday:

“It’s been incredible for us. Whether it’s the Lions lads or whether it’s the other lads coming on, what Steve’s done brilliantly is, we understand this is a 23-man game.

“In fact, it’s more than 23, it’s 36 when you think about the lads who are unfortunate enough to miss out, because the way they prepare the lads in the week is enormous.

“But Test matches, more often than not, will come down to the last quarter of the game, so your bench impact, not only in terms of the intensity they bring physically but in terms of how calm they can be mentally as well and understanding what we need to do to win the game.

“I think we took a step forward there, but like anything, you’re never nailed or cracked it. You need to make sure that you keep your feet on the ground and do it again.

“The last time an England team won at Twickenham was 2012 against New Zealand.

“We spoke about how there was no-one in the room who was involved in that win, so we’ve got an opportunity to do something great on Saturday.

“It’s going to be a big part of our motivation, but we’ve just got to make sure we marry that up with executing our plan.”

‘We hope England are confident – we’re expecting big bench impact from them’

New Zealand forwards coach Jason Ryan also spoke to the media this week, and in response to suggestions northern hemisphere sides have greater belief facing this New Zealand vintage, he encouraged it.

Ryan also touched on the major change England have made since a trio of defeats to New Zealand in 2024: their bench tactics.

“We respect every team that’s in front of us, and I think that Test matches, they’re all won differently,” Ryan said.

“I’m sure we’ve got a couple of weaknesses that they’ve seen but we’ll prepare as deep as we can, as we know they will be, they’re incredibly well coached.

“Good on them if they’ve got confidence, we have too. That’s what you want from all your players when they go out in the fiercest arena.

“I hope so [England have stronger belief they can beat us], it’s great.

“We just want to get about our work and play what’s in front of us and trust our skills. That’s an important part of Test footy. The momentum, it shifts so quick, so you’ve got to make the most of the opportunities.

“They’ve changed a little bit in how they like to break teams down a little bit. They’ve used the 6-2 bench split a little bit. They’ve sort of found a little bit of identity in that and what is potentially working for them. That’ll probably be one of the things.”

England team to face New Zealand

Starting XV: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Fin Baxter, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Alex Coles, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Ben Earl.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Marcus Smith.