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Many England fans echoing the same gripe following Six Nations loss
By Ian Cameron at Aviva Stadium, Dublin
England’s Six Nations campaign began with a stinging 27-22 defeat to reigning champions Ireland in Dublin, heaping pressure on head coach Steve Borthwick.
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Hopes had been high when Cadan Murley crossed in the corner to put England up 10-5 at half-time, but a series of second-half lapses allowed Ireland to run in four tries through Jamison Gibson-Park, Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne and Dan Sheehan.
Borthwick’s decision to field a fleet-footed back row initially looked promising as England’s line speed unsettled Ireland early on. Marcus Smith and Ollie Lawrence cut through Ireland’s defence in the first half, while Ben and Tom Curry combined with Ben Earl to give the home side serious issues at the breakdown.
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Yet, after Ireland rallied under interim coach Simon Easterby, England once again fell away in the closing stages, an all-too-familiar pattern for frustrated fans.
On social media, many England supporters are voicing the same grievance: under Borthwick, the attack has not substantially developed, and the team still struggles to close out games when it matters most. While some acknowledged bright spots – like Lawrence’s line breaks and the Curry twins’ defensive efforts – the overall sentiment was one of abject disappointment.
“Whilst disappointed to concede the tries I think everybody could see how our defence took a step forward in so many areas,” said Borthwick in the post-match press conference in the Aviva Stadium. “And the commitment level of the players in defence was exceptional. That doesn’t take away the fact we’re disappointed not to get a win.”
X users remained far from convinced.
Former England flyhalf Andy Goode suggested that Borthwick’s halftime talk had hurt and not helped England: “First half from England was good, full of aggression, accuracy and physicality and then Steve spoke to them at half time…”
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Fans were equally unforgiving, one writing: “Borthwick needs to go. He’s proving totally ineffective and not fit for purpose. England have been so poor in game management, inventiveness and basic rugby execution it’s unbelievable. Zero progression evident here,” while another irate England supporter wrote: “The lack of ambition from England is criminal. At no point did any of them think they could go on and win that game. Just made no attempt to play until the last five minutes. Caused next to no problems for Ireland defence. It’s embarrassing.”
Most disagreed with Borthwick’s insistence that England ‘took a step forward’ against Ireland. One X user wrote: “Disagree that the attack looked any better. My thoughts: Marcus Smith doesn’t bring the best out of others – he plays for himself – whereas Finn Smith does bring the best out of other players. Time for a change.”
It wasn’t the only call for a change at fly-half: “Time for a change of Smith at 10″ and “Our attack was poor, again. Left it far too late to bring Finn Smith on at 10 and switch Marcus to 15… Borthwick too reactive. We will be 4th again!”
England showed flashes of promise, especially during a chaotic first half in which the visitors’ line speed rattled Ireland. But as the second half wore on, basic errors and a lack of variety in attacking play proved costly once more. Fans across social media remain unconvinced that Borthwick’s tenure has lifted the side beyond the struggles that saw England lose seven of 12 Tests in 2024.
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Summing up the frustration, one post read: “Steve Borthwick really is a terrible head coach and I don’t care what anyone tells me. He’s not a Test-class head coach and he never will be. That scoreline flatters us and does Ireland a disservice. We were crap, again,” while another lamented: “Attack looks shocking, at no point were you like ‘that’s straight out of the training ground.’”
With the next match against France looming, calls for a shake-up – especially at half-back – will grow louder. Whether Borthwick sticks with Marcus Smith at fly-half or opts to give Finn Smith a starting role could prove crucial.
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The English defense was excellent in the first half. This is considering Ireland's attack has improved significantly since the Autumn with former Leinster attack coach Goodman. Ireland were beaten by NZ in the Autumn, are behind SA and arguably behind France so de facto 4th in order (rankings take time to catch up) As Eddie Jones said Ireland are still in that elite group so England's domination in the first half is noteworthy.
I believe they have spent the time since the Autumn largely on defence. On broken play they were relying on Smiths instint along with some jiggery pokery. For Smiths early line break a Twindaloo blocked Baird which left the gap for smith. It looked like he did Aki, but Baird was a little late arriving and clever play by Tom Curry allowed the gap for Smith. Earls line break was Smith spotting Baird coming out and beating him with a beautiful pass to Earl.
We saw the rehearsed plays for a couple of Ireland's tries. The Aki try was just identifying that England tended to hide Smith on the wing creating a vulnerability which Ireland exploited with one of Akis great finishes.
Although Ireland were relaxing at the end the two English tries were good enough quality and we may see more of it next week (Scotland will also have taken note).
Although on the easier side of the draw Borthwick almost took England to a RWC final.
But in common with the top4 you need to have firepower to get those tries in big games. Can Borthwick manage that? I don't think so.
Next week even if England have a great first half again, you would be looking at France converting 3 of those Irish chances and pushing on after the break.
Can Borthwick develop a plan to beat France in the next few years. If the answer is no England need to find someone who can.
That would was a big step up imo, you would have beaten NZ with Dmacs lackluster performance (though perhaps it might have ignited him a bit).
Both teams a step up on last years match too.
Why would anyone listen to the nameless, faceless fans on social media? Let alone use it as the basis for an article.
England did some good stuff at the weekend. But people seem to be forgetting that England were playing the best team in the NH away from home. It's not easy to win there.
From watching the 6 nations and the absolute illegal feeding in the scrims, what is the purpose of the scrum?
Most recently the ball has been fed to the second roe but now the ball never even went into the tunnel and placed at the feet of the back row. I have no knowledge of the law change where it states the ball must be introduced into the scrum in the tunnel between the two front rows.
If thus us the wat forward why have the scrum pack down and not just stand there like soldiers on parade and then just have the scrum half pi k the ball up fromthebo8s feet.its even more ridiculous now that the scrum half cannot be challenged. For me who has been playing the game since 1968, I am not interested in speeding up the game, if u wanted that I would follow rugby league.
I believe the modern game to be so boring and unwatchable. Bring back physical competition.
I really expected this sort of reaction from England fans last year already. But they, and the typically vicious media, seemed to have been lulled by (1) A good SF showing at the WC and (2) a one point win against Ireland.
Possibly put off the idea of changing coaches AGAIN. The England coaching job should be able to attract the best coaches from around the world. How they settled for Borthwick is beyond me.
If England players stopped the cheating antics and just played they might achieve something. Itoje is the worse of them, offside, antics at lineouts, hands in ruck and more. He's a great athlete but a terrible player and Captain
The attack did develop when Ford was fly half.
That development wasn't sustained because Ford got dropped in favour of a much worse fly half.
When Ford was fly-half or when Felix Jones was in charge of the defence (and creating attacking opportunities by pressuring defense)?
Wanting to drop your best player still I see!
It’s funny how you think Marcus Smith is the problem. And not the coaches who pick him and set the game plan.