The not-so-private selection letter from Itoje and Chessum for Borthwick.

Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum, two enormous second row players for England, have informed Steve Borthwick that they do not want to be rested for the match against Chile.

Against the weakest opposition England will face during their World Cup group stage, Borthwick is anticipated to make a few changes to his starting lineup, taking the chance to rest some of his stars.

Given the upcoming more challenging assignments, Itoje and Chessum are candidates to receive the weekend off.
They have started the last three Tests together, including the Pool D victories over Argentina and Japan.

“I want to play all the time. I want to declare myself for selection because I want to represent England on the field.
I would like to play if given the chance,” Itoje declared.

“You can’t take these opportunities for granted because you never know when you’ll play for England for the final time.
I would undoubtedly want to play if I could get as many caps as possible.

“Steve has a big plan, and he has to take care of everyone on the team, not just himself. He makes the final choice.
“.

Borthwick’s task is to make sure that his key players are prepared for the quarterfinals, where England has already advanced after defeating the Pumas and Brave Blossoms.

However, due to the break week each team takes at various points during the World Cup, their next assignment after Chile is the final group match against Samoa on October 7.

Tom Harrison, the scrum coach for England, has expressed his happiness that, after two games of the Rugby World Cup, there has been improvement at the set-piece when compared to the foundation head coach Steve Borthwick took over from Eddie Jones.

This means that if Itoje is left off of Borthwick’s team that is announced on Thursday, he might go three weeks without playing.

“A three-week vacation is neither here nor there.
If I play, great,” Itoje said.

“You work out significantly more when you aren’t playing.
It serves as sufficient motivation that the guys who haven’t been in the squad have been getting flogged.

“I’ll be spanked if I don’t play.
I’d much rather play because I don’t want to get flogged!”.

The Leicester lock has a stronger case for keeping his spot because he is making a full recovery from a serious ankle injury, but Chessum, Itoje’s partner in England’s first-choice engine room, is also looking to keep his spot.

At every opportunity, you should put your hand up to play, according to Chessum.

“I haven’t played any rugby at all in the past six months, so I want to continue playing.”.

“I will put my hand up during training this week and let the coaches make the decision; it is not up to me.
“.

On Saturday in Lille, Chile is predicted to be completely destroyed, but Portugal and Uruguay have already shown in this World Cup that the underdogs can give you a scare against Wales and France.

Since Japan’s victory over Ireland four years ago was the last major upset in the tournament, Chessum does not want England to be the next big-name victim.

You will be exposed and caught out if you sleepwalk into World Cup matches or anything else, he warned.

The tier-two nations have pushed some of the best teams to the very end, as you can see from the games last week, so there is not a huge gap between the teams.

“We’ll be working hard in practice and on the field to bring the game to Chile.
“.