Borthwick has team on track but All Blacks will be acid test
BEFORE this Six Nations, Steve Borthwick said his aim was to improve England’s poor recent Championship record. The England head coach pointed out that three straight years of just two wins was an underwhelming return for English rugby. He was entirely right to do so.
With three wins in 2024, the numbers suggest England have improved and I think they have made significant strides.
The victory over Ireland, thanks to Marcus Smith’s dramatic late drop-goal, felt like a seminal moment. It would have showed the players they do have the ability to beat the top teams. But England are only just getting started so let’s not get carried away.
They should be competing for the Six Nations title and Grand Slams so while winning three games to finish third is a step in the right direction, there is still significant work to do. England must build on this Six Nations when they go to New Zealand in the summer.
That will be an acid test, as facing the All Blacks in their own back yard is one of the toughest challenges you can face. England have only ever won twice on New Zealand soil.
In 2014, I started all three
Tests against the All Blacks. We ending up losing all three matches. But the first two Tests were tight. We lost 20-15 in Auckland and by only one point in Dunedin before we ran out of steam and were blown away 36-13 in the final match.
England will be able to give New Zealand a good run for their money so long as they look to play the sort of game they did against Ireland. That has to be the template for the team moving forward.
Borthwick has had criticism for his coaching being onedimensional. I didn’t play under him when he was in charge of Leicester, but being at Tigers as a player now and speaking to the guys here, I’ve got a good understanding of his methods. I was also an England team-mate of Steve’s.
He certainly knows what he wants. He has a very structured game-plan that is centred on a strong kicking game. But this
Six Nations has seen him evolving his game-plan. That’s really promising for England, because at international level you can’t beat the top sides focusing on a strong kicking game and set-pieces. You need more than that.
It also helps the supporters get behind the team if the brand of rugby is good to watch.
I was surprised when my Leicester team-mate Freddie Steward was left out of the Scotland game in my old position of full-back. It didn’t work, as England performed poorly as a team.
But George Furbank, who has come in, played well against Ireland. I still think Freddie has a big future in this England set-up, though, because he is so good at his full-back basics.
With Furbank and guys like Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Tommy Freeman running riot, England can have a bright future so long as they build on what they’ve achieved so far.
They need to find consistency in their attack so there isn’t a repeat of Scotland.
Felix Jones’ blitz defence must continue to improve too. They have to perfect the hard press so it can become a big weapon, in the way South Africa have had success.
The final thing is selection. They have the basis of a strong team. But they also need to work out who will take the team forward long term. For example, Danny Care might not make the next World Cup so who is backup No 9 to Alex Mitchell? It’s the same with Dan Cole.
There are still questions to answer, but I’m more upbeat about England at the end of the Six Nations than I was at the beginning.