Why Steve Borthwick is the real winner from the Lions' latest victory

England currently have three fly-halves on the British & Irish Lions tour – Fin Smith, Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell – and, much to the consternation of some fans, probably their form fly-half George Ford fresh from three virtuoso performances in a white jersey against Argentina and the USA over the past month.

What that means for Steve Borthwick is that he will have four players to choose from heading into the autumn, assuming the Saracens-bound Farrell makes himself eligible for England selection again.

Shifting Marcus Smith to full-back (George Furbank, Freddie Steward and Joe Carpenter may have something to say about that) may alleviate this issue slightly, but three into one is still not a great equation for Ford, Fin Smith and Marcus Smith.

But Andy Farrell may have done Borthwick a favour during the Lions’ narrow victory over the First Nations & Pasifika XV on Tuesday in Melbourne.

In what was otherwise a sketchy showing from the visitors, the English 10-12 axis of Fin Smith and Owen Farrell showed a lot of promise. There was, of course, the chip from Farrell for Jamie Osborne’s first try, the long whipped pass from Fin Smith for the Irishman’s second, or Farrell’s dummy and pass for Duhan van der Merwe’s try, but they were not stand-alone moments.

The pair fluidly shared the responsibilities at first-receiver, with the other often floating behind the first line of attack for a pull-back. Farrell said after the match that he “enjoyed” his partnership with the 23-year-old, describing him as a “fantastic player”.

Farrell, 10 years Fin Smith’s senior, has played a lot at inside centre with Ford at No.10, particularly during Eddie Jones’ tenure, where Borthwick was an assistant. While he has reverted back to fly-half in recent years, the No.12 shirt may be calling again given the performances from the playmakers this year.

Inside centre has long been a problem for England, but there have been signs of promise this year with Fraser Dingwall during the Six Nations, as well as Seb Atkinson and Max Ojomoh showing in debuts against Argentina and the USA that they are more than deserving of another chance in the role.

Farrell’s return therefore muddies the waters for fly-halves and centres, but Borthwick would be a brave man to overlook him for the Autumn Nations Series. Likewise, Ford, Marcus Smith and Fin Smith are secure in the England squad too.

Shifting to inside centre may be the most viable option for Farrell currently, and on the evidence of what happened for the Lions, that won’t be too problematic.

Ever since Farrell confirmed his move back to the Gallagher Premiership, Borthwick must have been puzzling over what to do with all his fly-halves – Andy Farrell may have helped him out.