The Harlequins playmaker was moved to full-back from fly-half in order that Fin Smith could start in the No 10 shirt against France last time out.
But the 26-year-old Marcus Smith remained England’s first-choice goal-kicker only to badly skew both a conversion and a penalty.
Those misses threatened to cost England the game until Fin Smith, sealing an impressive first Test start, converted a try by Fin Baxter and then added the extras to Elliot Daly’s 79th-minute score, which he also helped create, as England snatched a 26-25 win over Les Bleus at Twickenham.
Victory revived England’s title hopes following an opening-round defeat to champions Ireland, with defence boss Kevin Sinfield inspiring the change of kickers.
England head coach Borthwick, speaking after naming his team on Tuesday — two days ahead of schedule — said Marcus Smith would start this weekend’s Calcutta Cup clash as first-choice with the boot.
“He’s a world-class goal-kicker; we all know that, so it’s very simple,” said Borthwick. “Marcus is a game-changer; Marcus is a player with incredible ability.”
He added: “With Fin Smith and Marcus Smith, we have two ball-players, two people who see space in the front-line and in the back-field, and that’s going to be very important this weekend.”
The former England captain has made just one change to his starting side for Saturday’s third-round game, with Ollie Chessum replacing the benched George Martin to partner England captain Maro Itoje in the second row.
Russell ‘best fly-half in the world’
