England enter 2026 with expectations high and opportunities aplenty to maintain their upward trajectory under Steve Borthwick.
Their year begins with a Six Nations campaign in which they are leading the charge to dethrone champions France, whom they face in the tournament finale in Paris on March 14.
Arriving at the Stade de France with a shot at a first Grand Slam in a decade still on the table feels like the minimum requirement for an England side steadily on the rise.
After all, they boast an 11‑game winning streak stretching back to last season's Six Nations, a run that includes a standout victory over New Zealand.
For those ambitions to be realised, however, a fresh set of challenges must be overcome - tests that will offer the latest measure of progress under Borthwick and a snapshot of the state of English rugby a year out from the Rugby World Cup.
An untimely front‑row injury crisis has ended the tournaments of tightheads Will Stuart (Achilles) and Asher Opoku‑Fordjour (shoulder) before they even began, while loosehead Fin Baxter's participation hangs in the balance after calf surgery.
As a result, the strength in depth Borthwick has cultivated over the past 12 months faces an immediate and searching examination, but it is a challenge he has no option but to embrace.
"We've had a couple of bumps with props that are unavailable, but what that does is it creates opportunity for others," he told Your Site.
"We've had the depth charts planned. Our scrum coach Tom Harrison focuses very much on those front‑row forwards, and he's been really clear on who the next player in is.
"So while we didn't necessarily want that disruption and the need to change things with new players, we're also ready for it."
Stuart, Opoku‑Fordjour and Baxter's misfortune is Vilikesa 'Billy' Sela, Emmanuel Iyogun and Greg Fisilau's opportunity.
The uncapped trio - Bath's 20‑year‑old prop Sela, Northampton loosehead Iyogun and Exeter number eight Fisilau - have been drafted in as reinforcements, handed the chance to put themselves firmly on the radar a year out from the World Cup.
How they adjust - or don't - to the pressure of the Test arena adds another fascinating dimension to England's campaign. Will they sink, or seize the moment and swim? Time will tell, and England's title aspirations could well hinge on the outcome.
Steve Borthwick has named three uncapped players in Greg Fisilau, Vilikesa Sela and Emmanuel Iyogun as part of his England Six Nations squad.
Forwards: Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), Arthur Clark (Gloucester), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Trevor Davison (Northampton), Ben Earl (Saracens), Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints), Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Vilikesa Sela (Bath Rugby) Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Backs: Henry Arundell (Bath Rugby), Seb Atkinson ( Gloucester Rugby), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)
