It says much about Steve Borthwick’s approach to England’s coming autumn campaign that he is due to name his training squad within minutes of the full-time whistle at Harlequins on Sunday. Simply put, there is no time to waste.

Borthwick will have his squad for only a couple of days after the Prem’s derby weekend before they return to their clubs for a domestic fixture. In years gone by there was an extra week with the players but this time, as 12 months ago, Borthwick’s preparations are truncated.

When it comes to naming squads he does not spring too many surprises. But what fascinates is how he may interpret what he has seen in the Prem and the solitary round of Champions Cup matches. Feasts at domestic level, famine on the continent.

Will Borthwick look to employ the attacking abandon that has taken hold of the Prem or write it off as bubblegum sport, unsuited to the Test stage and, with only 12 matches left before England’s World Cup opener, rely on players he knows can perform on the international stage? Without getting too reductive, Sunday’s squad will give a clue. If players such as George Hendy, Will Joseph and Fitz Harding are included, it would suggest Borthwick is embracing the chaos. A recall for Courtney Lawes, meanwhile, would hint at a more prudent approach.

He may do both or neither. But whether he sees the try-fests as something to harness, or a hindrance, will be revealing. It calls to mind Thomas Tuchel’s insistence before the summer’s World Cup that he wanted England to play like a Premier League side. Does Borthwick want his England team to play like a Prem side? According to Rassie Erasmus he is a coach who “chases trends”.

This cuts to the heart of something Borthwick has never really mastered. What is England’s identity? Does Borthwick pick players who best fit his vision for England, or the best players available, creating a game-plan around them? “Your identity comes from the pool of players you have and what it looks like and over time,” the England assistant coach, Richard Wigglesworth, said last month.

“The style of English rugby has changed and the profile of player has changed considerably. We’re dynamic, skilful, we want to play fast. When someone mentions identity, they’re incorrect because there’s playing well and there’s not. You can have an identity and lose, who is bothered about that? It’s about playing well and then you’ll see an identity. I think there’s a bit too much made of that.”

The dilemma facing Borthwick is all the more acute because the suspicion is the coming month of Nations Championship fixtures will be high-scoring if the weather holds. While the international game is not all-singing, all dancing in the way that the Prem is, there is evidently a trend towards attacking dominance. And as much as the Nations Championship title is coveted, the stakes are nowhere near as high as they will be in Australia next year.

Borthwick will be aware that in the knockout stages of the World Cup, tries do not come for free. South Africa became champions in 2023 without scoring more than 16 points in either the semi-final or final. Of eight knockout matches, only New Zealand scored more than 40 - in a mismatched semi-final against a poor Argentina. The next highest was England with 30 against Fiji, but no one else made it out of the 20s. At the 2019 World Cup in Japan both semi-finals were won with 19 points. The expectation is a significant drop-off in scoring in Australia, once the pool stage - which will witness numerous blowouts - is out of the way. It is all the more relevant next year because the new format means an extra knockout round.

“It’s set-piece and defence when the stakes are so high,” says Saracens’ Brendan Venter, who won the World Cup with South Africa in 1995. “You end up having two teams with the best set-piece and defence. The All Blacks often play some cracking stuff but when you go through to the knockouts it’s just low scoring games.”

Borthwick is under pressure. Do not be fooled by his recent contract extension, if England are beaten by Australia in their opener, the heat will get more intense. Playing in a manner that excites supporters would help his cause and the best international sides tend to have a strong spine from the dominant domestic club. It is hard to argue against Northampton’s hegemony in England and in Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Tommy Freeman and George Furbank - even if he is no longer at Saints - Borthwick has the players to showcase the best of the Prem. “Lots of those skills are relevant,” says Northampton’s director of rugby Phil Dowson. “Are international players better decision-makers in defence? Yeah, I think they probably are but that’s international level isn’t it? Everything is going to be a little better. We always talk about Prem being slightly differently refereed but the ability to run at a defender, sit him down and make him make a decision because I’ve got the ball in two hands is still going to be relevant.”

Borthwick sought to bring officiating in the Prem closer to the international game this season but judging by the first few weeks, it is yet to bear fruit. It is a concern that seven of the eight Prem sides failed to win in the opening weekend of the Champions Cup and the manner in which they were outgunned at the breakdown is all the more reason to worry. Again, that is one of Lawes’s strengths, and it felt significant that Borthwick watched Sale’s rearguard action in victory over Saracens earlier this month.

Borthwick must sift through the sediment. Find the nuggets that he can employ both in the autumn and next year’s World Cup. Cherry-pick the best bits but ignore the bells and whistles. As George Skivington, whose Gloucester side go into the weekend top of the table, puts it: “Steve’s job is to take from what we’re doing well what he thinks can translate … that’s the challenge of being an international coach.”