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'An absolute mess': Steve Borthwick comes underfire as 'big questions' asked

A dejected Jamie George trudges off the pitch - PA

Steve Borthwick’s role as England head coach is under intense scrutiny after a last-minute 42-37 defeat to Australia at Allianz Stadium marking England’s second consecutive failure to close out a winning position.

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Max Jorgensen scored three minutes into overtime to seal a scarcely believable victory for Joe Schmidt’s Australia. Marcus Smith had seemed to orchestrate a comeback for Steve Borthwick’s side, setting up two tries for Ollie Sleightholme. Maro Itoje then scored in the 77th minute, appearing to clinch a win for England after Andrew Kellaway’s earlier breakaway try for the Wallabies. Yet, with the game heading into its 83rd minute, Australia engineered a final chance, and Jorgensen scored, assisted by rugby league star Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i in an impressive union debut.

Last week’s loss to the All Blacks raised concerns but England’s repeated inability to finish games has intensified calls for answers as fans and pundits question Borthwick’s leadership.

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Wallaby scrumhalf Jake Gordon and lock Will Skelton presser

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Wallaby scrumhalf Jake Gordon and lock Will Skelton presser

England fans took to social media to voice their frustrations. Former England international Andy Goode wrote “Wow what a finish from the Wallabies fully deserve that victory Defensively England were all over the shop at times Big questions for Steve Borthwick to answer when we had one of the best defensive coaches in the world just leave.”

His remark was reflective of widespread discontent among a section of fans over England’s defensive weaknesses and baffling inability to finish out matches.

Indeed criticisms went beyond Borthwick’s strategy as Mana Rugby suggested a change in leadership saying: “If England lose to this Australia team at home Steve Borthwick and all his assistants should be sacked – defence and attack so poor Make Felix Jones the head coach.”

Some fans pointed to the loss of key backroom staff as a factor with one fan quipping “Say what you like about Steve Borthwick but apart from losing winnable games having his team play rugby at 75 per cent speed and having his best coaches leave his team he is doing a great job.”

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Longtime England followers noted the irony of England’s current struggles after Eddie Jones who led the team to a World Cup final and Six Nations wins was sacked. Richie Allen observed “England were more than happy to slate Eddie Jones as they sacked him… Careful what you wish for – cause Borthwick’s England are an absolute mess.”

Another angry fan wrote: “We had one of the world’s best defence coaches and after a handful of games he left because he couldn’t work under Borthwick. How many games does he need to demonstrate that he hasn’t a clue what he’s doing.”

A similarly irate supporter blasted Borthwick, saying: “Pathetic from England. Losing to this Australia side is unforgivable. Steve Borthwick needs to be sacked.”

With Borthwick two defeats into England’s Autumn Nations Series, the pressure on Borthwick to deliver is getting close to boiling point.

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After the game Borthwick told TNT: “There will be no shortage of motivation to get back out there against South Africa”.

He isn’t wrong, not least for himself, as his job may now depend on it.

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Comments

11 Comments
B
BH 11 days ago

Pretty harsh feedback about the coaching. They got close to beating New Zealand 3 times this year and lost to an inconsistent but dangerous Australia. They knocked off Ireland and should've beaten France in the 6N.

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Tom 10 days ago

They achieved most of what you've said with Felix Jones. They no longer have Felix Jones.

G
GrahamVF 11 days ago

You can lose every game by just one point and still be number nine in the world. The game is about winning not losing. A team can't win medals on the back of gallant losses. "Taking positives" out of so many losses is just like your aunt saying never mind have a nice cup of tea.

B
B 11 days ago

The Wallabies were good against the All Blacks in Sydney but were found wanting in Wellington a week later.


They look to be gelling well and have made massive improvements since then and it definitely showed in their gutsy win over England.


Last weekend England were softened up and exposed where their defence out wide was lacking by the All Blacks and Joe Schmidt had a week to sort that out.


In my opinion, if the Wallabies had played England first with the same intensity, the All Blacks would have had a field day.

U
Utiku Old Boy 11 days ago

For all the English hand-wringing, this was a cohesive Wallaby effort with a lot starting to "click" for them. New chap is already a handful, has a big future and may inspire other leagies to convert! With the Argies comprehensively beating Italy, SH rugby is making a statement.

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Tom 10 days ago

Australia did some good stuff in parts but I wouldn't call it a cohesive display. England were bloody awful, they made Australia look good with the most poorly organised defensive performance I can remember.


Suaalii was excellent but not really a convert, he played for the Wallaby U18s and he's only 21 now so he's played a lot more union than league, just not professionally.

W
Willardi 11 days ago

Andy Goode made a very negative comment on this platform recently about Aus chances v the Lions next year. Never write off the Wallabies. This will probably inspire a few more Aussie League players crossing codes. They back. For sure.

B
Bull Shark 11 days ago

Let’s not overlook the fantastic play by the wallabies.


All Blackesque, stunning handling skills with athletes that either bashed through the English - who look softer than ever - or ran past them like they were standing still.


I said it at the beginning of this year - the Wallabies will be back and would overtake the English in world rankings. Who knew it would be this soon?

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JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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