SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: How to give a player the worst news of their career – including a painful chat with Mike Tindall that led to him joining the Royal Family and accidentally dropping Lawrence Dallaglio on 49 caps!

Borthwick would have had to have sat down with Smith and have an incredibly tough conversation. It wouldn’t have been pleasant for either party.

It could be a pivotal moment for Smith, Borthwick and this England team. You could forgive Smith for feeling hard done by. He has been asked to play out of position.

It could be a pivotal moment for Smith, Borthwick and this England team

From full-back, Smith has beaten France and ended England’s bogey run against Scotland

And from full-back, he has beaten France and ended England’s bogey run against Scotland. He has by no means set the tournament alight, but he has still affected the game well.

I cannot shift a niggling feeling that Borthwick is sending a message. Smith has the potential to be a superstar, but as a coach if you get even the slightest impression a player is distracted, you must act. Sir Alex Ferguson was the master of this.

I just cannot shake the visual from the opening episode of series two of Netflix’s Six Nations: Full Contact of Smith climbing into a flash car and hosting meetings with his agents. Ultimately, I am only speculating. But I don’t think Smith came across well at all there.

In my time as England coach, I had two big moments where I decided to drop players.

The first was for the 2003 World Cup semi-final where I picked Will Greenwood and Mike Catt as the centre pairing and left out Mike Tindall.

Catt had been superb in the quarter-final win over Wales, coming off the bench and turning the tables our way when we had been in serious trouble. I wanted him to start against France in the semi because of his strong kicking game and the forecast of wet conditions.

It was a more-than-interesting conversation with Tindall.

Thankfully, there was a silver lining. And this is 100 per cent a true story. After I’d told Tindall he wouldn’t be starting, he was obviously furious but he knew for the good of the team this was not the time to make this into a drama. His attitude was brilliant in what was a very low moment for him. He went out for a few beers with friends to blow off some steam. It was that night he met his now-wife Zara.

I had to tell Mike Tindall that I was dropping him for Mike Catt in the 2003 semi-final

Thankfully, there was a silver lining – it was that night he met his now-wife Zara and became part of the Royal Family!

I called Catt in before the final to tell him he was back on the bench. That was another tough conversation but I’ll always remember Catt smiling when I asked him into a room

So, really Tindall owes me one – it’s because I dropped him that he’s now a member of the Royal Family! So, things worked out OK for him in the end.

After we beat France to reach the final with Australia, there was never a question in my mind Tindall would come back into the XV. His job was to take down the giant Wallaby centre Stirling Mortlock. That was the right call to be made. Even Catt agreed.

I called Catt in before the final. That was another tough conversation because he’d played so well in the two previous knockout games. But I’ll always remember Catt smiling when I asked him into a room.

‘I’ll make this easy for you and start on the bench,’ Catt said. ‘Then I’ll come on and win us the World Cup.’

It was classic Catty. He was one of the smartest players I ever coached. He already knew what was coming. He also kicked the ball out at the death for the last play of that final with Australia to secure the William Webb Ellis trophy for England.

It’s funny how things work out.

The other big selection call I made was when I dropped Lawrence Dallaglio. It was in one autumn campaign and we’d just beaten New Zealand at Twickenham with a back row of Richard Hill, Neil Back and Dallaglio. For the next game against Australia, I wanted to bring even more pace into the loose forward trio.

So, I dropped Dallaglio, moved Hill to No 8, and brought in Lewis Moody. Again, for me, it was unquestionably the right decision.

I’ll never forget Lawrence Dallaglio’s face when I told him I was dropping him on 49 caps

It was Dallaglio’s mum that I actually had to worry about when I dropped him!

I’ll never forgot Dallaglio’s face when I told him. The conversation in a room at Pennyhill Park went something like this:

Dallaglio: ‘Can I get this absolutely clear? We’ve just beaten New Zealand and now I’m dropped?’

Me: ‘Yes, that sums it up pretty well Lawrence! I want to bring more pace into the team.’

Dallaglio: ‘OK. So, I’m rested, not dropped?’

Me: ‘No Lawrence, you’re dropped. But you’ll get over it.’

Dallaglio: ‘If you think I’m mad, wait until you speak to my mum!’

I told Martin Johnson after I had already spoken to Dallaglio. I’ll never forget Johnson’s reaction. 

‘You do know it’s his 50th cap this weekend,’ he said of Dallaglio.

Martin Johnson had to tell me just what I’d done by dropping Dallaglio just shy of the milestone

I had no idea! Dallaglio must have had pictures in his mind of leading the team out and everything! That made my decision not to pick him even tougher for him to take.

And no wonder his remarkable mum was indeed livid! Looking back, I’m still really proud of both those decisions.

They were made for the right reasons and I still wouldn’t change them now. It was a mark of the strong culture we had with the England team at that time that while Tindall and Dallaglio were annoyed, they eventually took the decisions well because they were made for the good of the team. That’s what this England side need to do now.

They have to put Borthwick’s move to bench Smith and leave out Henry Slade altogether out of their minds and focus fully on beating Italy.