England vs New Zealand: Henry Arundel and Marcus Smith part of the back three puzzle

Former England winger Ugo Monye believes that with Freeman nursing an injury as a result of the win over Fiji at the weekend, Borthwick will join a combination of Fii-Wabuso and Arundel, flanking Steward at full-back.

“If Elliot Daly is fit and capable of pace, I would pick him as a 15-year-old,” Mooney told Rugby Union Weekly.

“But he hasn’t played for a long time, and I don’t know if he’s fit or not.

“Manny [Feyi-Waboso] He plays 100% right wing, so if it’s not Daly, it should be Steward, with Arundel on the left wing.

“It’s a first-class combination, but you can see how with some injuries and a little bit of disruption, you’re putting three players in the back four that’s not part of the original plan.

“It’s still a really strong back three, but when you look at the scheme that England want to play in, it’s not the ideal back three. The kind of aerial game that England rely on is not an Arundel game.

“He likes the ball in his hands and on the ground, his game is not about chasing high kicks and winning the ball back. The other two things [Steward and Feyi-Waboso] They are exceptional at it though.”

Former England international Danny Kerr says the back-to-back grind of autumn internationals – with four matches on successive weekends – is testing England’s strength in depth in the backfield.

“In recent weeks we’ve been talking about how deep and strong the England squad is and, well, we’ll have to see that this weekend,” he told Rugby Union Weekly.

Mooney agreed, suggesting that England may have to select three full-backs on their eight-man bench – instead of the two they carried in wins over Australia and Fiji – to allow Borthwick to support an unfamiliar group.

Matt Dawson, who won the World Cup with England in 2003, does not believe the versatile Marcus Smith should be in the back three conversation at all, preferring his creative talents as a game-changing fly-half, rather than a full-back.

“I don’t think Marcus is a full-back at the highest level,” he wrote in his BBC Sports column. “I’m having a hard time seeing the benefit of playing with him there.

“I want the ball in his hands as much as possible, but I think he has to be in the front line, especially in the last 20 minutes.”