England head coach Steve Borthwick is likely to name Captain Owen Farrell at fly-half and Marcus Smith at full-back for their Rugby World Cup quarterfinal clash against Fiji.
The Rose will ditch the 10-12 playmaking axis they trialled against Samoa, with George Ford dropping out of the starting XV.
The Ford-Farrell combination was a favourite for previous boss Eddie Jones and Borthwick was keen to see them play together.
Injury and suspension had previously denied him that opportunity before the duo finally started in tandem against the Pacific Islanders over the weekend.
However, following that disappointing team performance, which saw England scrape an 18-17 triumph, the Daily Mail is reporting that Borthwick will go with Farrell at the pivot.
Ford has been one of the country’s star players at the World Cup, playing a crucial role in their important 27-10 success against Argentina, but he looks set to miss out this weekend.
England will still have another playmaker in the backline with Smith likely to line up at full-back after he stood out against Chile in the 71-0 thrashing and coaches have been impressed with how he has adapted to the position.
