Who is on the plane to the Rugby World Cup? Your England squad revealed

Over the past two weeks, Telegraph Sport has assessed England’s World Cup options position-by-position and now it is time to reveal who the readers want to see on the plane. Steve Borthwick, take note.

Telegraph readers’ England World Cup squad

Looseheads

Ellis Genge, Mako Vunipola, Val Rapava Ruskin

Hookers

Jamie George, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Dan Frost

Tightheads

Kyle Sinckler, Will Stuart, Dan Cole

Locks

Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum, Joe Launchbury, David Ribbans

Flankers

Tom Curry, Jack Willis, Courtney Lawes

No 8s

Zach Mercer, Billy Vunipola

Scum-halves

Alex Mitchell, Jack van Poortvliet, Raffi Quirke

Fly-halves

Owen Farrell, George Ford, Marcus Smith

Centres

Ollie Lawrence, Manu Tuilagi, Henry Slade, Dan Kelly

Back three

Freddie Steward, Antony Watson, Henry Arundell, Max Malins, Elliot Daly

Clearly, by the look of this squad, Telegraph Sport subscribers are erudite rugby followers. And, by the selection of Val Rapava Ruskin at loosehead, several among you are keen acolytes of week in, week out Premiership rugby. The Georgian-born prop has been a titan for Gloucester this season and Steve Borthwick could do much worse than include him in his World Cup squad as the third-choice, “rookie” loosehead. In 2019, that status was bestowed upon Ellis Genge, and four years later the Bristol prop heads into his second World Cup as the undoubted first choice, and a potential captain.

The front-line hooking duo of Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie, should the latter overcome his injury struggles, picks itself but, once again, the third spot is intriguing. Despite his all-court performance in the Premiership final, Saracens tyro Theo Dan is overlooked in favour of Dan Frost. The Exeter hooker certainly impressed after his move from Wasps and will be in the frame, but Dan’s dynamism has proved, as long as his set piece remains consistent, that he has a point of difference to push the first-choice duo all the way.

The tightheads virtually pick themselves, with Kyle Sinckler and Dan Cole continuing after a solid Six Nations and Will Stuart claiming the third spot after some fierce end-of-season displays for Bath.

Unfortunately, readers, at lock is where we find our first glaring gaffe. Leicester’s George Martin, after his sensational domestic form and Six Nations call-up, will 100 per cent be in the mix. Who, out of the four selected, drops out is another matter. If Ollie Chessum does not recover sufficiently from his freak ankle injury, then he could be the one to go, which would be heart-breaking given his Six Nations form. If Chessum does recover, then one of Joe Launchbury or David Ribbans will be looking over their shoulders. Given the former has been playing in Japan and has not been involved with England this season, should one of your quartet need to be omitted, I would regretfully choose him.

As I mentioned when I selected my own squad, the flankers are shoo-ins. Courtney Lawes, Tom Curry and Jack Willis, fitness dependent, will all be selected by Borthwick. Might he, however, select a No 8 who can play flanker to supplement that trio? He might. In which case, Tom Willis or maybe, even, Lewis Ludlam come back into the fold. However, our readers have chosen to select two out-and-out No 8s. I’m pleased to see that you have joined me in boarding the Billy Vunipola hype train. Put simply, when at his best, there is no better No 8 in England. And, his skills and physical attributes happen to be perfectly suited to the areas in which England lacked last season.

Zach Mercer is a fascinating case. Supremely talented, of no doubt, but Test class? There is only one way of ascertaining, I suppose. The former Bath No 8 – who joins Gloucester next season – tore up the Top 14 in his first season with Montpellier but has not quite hit the same heights this season. Question marks remain, too, around his physicality. It’s not a stretch to say that, if he were French - behind Les Bleus’ monstrous front five - he may well occupy the No 8 shirt (or at least challenge the great Grégory Alldritt for it). But England’s front five is not as potent in the tight as France’s, and ballast at the back of the scrum has been lacking. Can Mercer bring that? At this stage, I’m not convinced, but his prodigious talent means that I would love to be proven wrong.

At nine, the Six Nations duo of Alex Mitchell and Jack van Poortvliet have made the cut, with Raffi Quirke complementing. No major qualms here, except it is worth noting that Quirke was not even Sale’s first-choice scrum-half this season. That jersey was occupied by another Englishman, Gus Warr, who might deserve a chance to prove himself in a training camp or two – and maybe even a warm-up. Ben Spencer of Bath should not be dismissed out of hand, either, given his box-kicking prowess and big-game experience.

Given the three glittering names at fly-half, arguing against the selection would be foolish. That being said, the only minor debate in this domain is whether Borthwick feels it necessary to select three out-and-out fly-halves. And, allied to that, will Owen Farrell be used as 12 cover, too. If it is a case of Farrell solely occupying the 10 jersey, then one of Ford or Smith could find themselves a high-profile omission, especially if the head coach opts to pick another player who could cover fly-half in case of emergency, such as Max Malins or George Furbank.

The centres, like the fly-halves, are fairly straightforward. Manu Tuilagi is playing as well as he has in the last four years; Dan Kelly was a vital cog of Leicester’s charge to the Premiership title under Borthwick; and Ollie Lawrence has been in scintillating form for Bath. After that trio, it surely comes down to a straight shoot-out between Henry Slade and Joe Marchant. I understand the selection of the Exeter centre and I’m not against it – for England, the peak of Slade’s powers have just about usurped Marchant’s – but I do fear for Slade’s intransigence. Marchant can play wing, and play it well, and that versatility could see the scales tip in the other direction. But there really is not much in it.

It is difficult to disagree with the five names in the back three, either, but something tells me that there might be a curveball here come August. Freddie Steward and Anthony Watson are bankers, the latter being about as near to a Borthwick prototype wing as possible. Malins and Elliot Daly combine so fluidly with Farrell that it makes a great deal of sense to select them, but is the former quick enough for the demands of playing wing in Test rugby? Despite his magnificence in the Premiership final, doubts persist in that regard. Henry Arundell is a once-in-a-generation talent but does he fit the Borthwick mould? Given this is just his first season as head coach, if Borthwick felt there were other wings who matched better how he wanted to play, it might be that Arundell is a high-profile omission. Realistically, though, he will be in. Ollie Hassell-Collins, Cadan Murley and Joe Cokanasiga – who has been working hard on his speed – will push them all the way.