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The 'horrible' England stat Steve Borthwick now owns
By Ian Cameron
In the wake of England’s crushing defeat at the hands of France in the Guinness Six Nations, former England flyhalf Andy Goode took to Twitter to point out the unfortunate stat head coach Steve Borthwick now owns.
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The scoreline of 53-10 was not only a demoralizing result for the players and fans, but it also set a new record for England’s biggest defeat at Twickenham. To add insult to injury, head coach Steve Borthwick, was also the captain of the team that previously held the record for England’s biggest defeat at Twickenham.
Goode tweeted: “Horrible stat alert. England’s biggest defeat at Twickenham was today 53-10. Steve Borthwick Head Coach. Previous biggest defeat at Twickenham was in 2008 v South Africa 42-6. Steve Borthwick was Captain!”
Horrible stat alert
England’s biggest defeat at Twickenham was today 53-10. Steve Borthwick Head Coach
Previous biggest defeat at Twickenham was in 2008 v South Africa 42-6. Steve Borthwick was Captain!
— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) March 11, 2023
The defeat was a sobering reminder of the challenges that lie ahead for England rugby. The team had come into the Six Nations with high hopes, but their performances on the pitch have left a lot to be desired. The loss to France was particularly disappointing, as England had been expected to put up a strong fight against their rivals, despite being in the midst of a rebuilding phase post-Eddie Jones.
Goode also took a pot-shot at RFU head honcho Bill Sweeney, who become something of a bete noir for the flyhalf turned rugby pundit. “It’s alright though Bill Sweeney’s salary has gone up 55 per cent in the last 2 years to £668k whilst he’s been asleep at the wheel.”
It’s alright though Bill Sweeney’s salary has gone up 55% in the last 2 years to £668k whilst he’s been asleep at the wheel
— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) March 11, 2023
The defeat has raised questions about the team’s coaching staff and their ability to prepare the players for top-level opposition. Borthwick, in particular, will come under fire for his role in the loss. As both the head coach and a former player who was once captain of a team that suffered a similar defeat, Borthwick is now in a unique position to understand the challenges facing the current crop of players. However, his ability to motivate and inspire the team will surely be called into question in the coming days.
“Pants down, massive skids on show, who takes 50 at home, we do,” posted Goode. “Awful day for England showing how far we’ve slipped under Eddie Jones and now how far behind we are under Borthwick.”
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Pants down, massive skids on show, who takes 50 at home, we do. Awful day for England showing how far we’ve slipped under Eddie Jones and now how far behind we are under Borthwick
— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) March 11, 2023
The defeat to France should now serve as a wake-up call for the team and their coaching staff. Unfortunately for Borthwick and co, the first up assignment in the process is a trip to Dublin to face world no.1s Ireland in their back garden.
Borthwick dismantled the EJ defense, and has so far failed to construct a decent alternative. There is a lot of BS being sprouted about England being smashed, most of it highly distorted by a desire to present a narrative that is palatable to the speaker.
I hear EJ being blamed, and power deficits, and attitude issues, and how England is poorly conditioned, and all sorts of other nonsense.
But this is pretty simple. If you keep your opponent from scoring then you have a shot at winning. The England problem is not about why the team did not score more than 53 points, but why they allowed any team to score that many points against them.
And, for the EJ critics, please limit your criticisms to things that actually happened on his watch. Everybody understands that there can be a long tail on what a coach does, but everybody also understands that blaming past coaches is a cheap shot at someone that has no realistic way to defend themselves. The constructive conversation is about what Borthwick should be accountable for at this stage.
How does a very conventional #8 scrum move to the blindside result in an easy try? Well the #8 had two backs (#9 and #14) on his outside and two forwards (#6 and #7) on his inside. Easy 5 on 3, with an over-commit to the outside and a slow and disorganized cover (including #10 and #15). No one covered the inside support until it was too late.
That's called terrible defense. And Borthwick has had plenty of time to put a non-terrible defensive system in place. A world class defense takes longer, but a competitive defensive system that does not leak 53 points to anybody should already be in place. EJ would no doubt argue that it was already in place, and was proven over several years.
The shock about the England game was not that England could not score at will but that their opponent could. And that is 100% on the head coach.
I said, before the match, that it was not reasonable to expect a win, but that we should expect three things: 1) a solid defense, 2) a competitive forwards game, and 3) good game management. Borthwick delivered none of those.
To be fair though, Andy Goode probably thinks the 2008 result was Eddie Jones' fault as well