by Steve Borthwick has challenged England to shed their tag as the underdogs of the Six Nations series after the head coach received a fitness boost from the final round of Champions Cup games.
A number of players had peaks and valleys over the weekend as England qualified, but Borthwick believes he will have a full slate of players to choose from for England’s Guinness Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome on February 3.
England have won just 50 per cent of their games in the last six Six Nations campaigns and just two in each of the past three competitions. Borthwick clearly admits that they are not performing to the expectations of their supporters and that France and Ireland have been left behind.
But after impressing the other Six Nations teams who finished third at the last World Cup, Borthwick wants England to start this campaign with a statement of intent against Italy. “We want to make sure this England team competes in every single game, which has not been said about the team in recent years,” said Borthwick. “The expectations of the supporters are much higher than what the team has achieved, and rightly so.
“The team is well aware that we have not had any action in the Six Nations for some time. Ireland and France were the dominant teams and everyone wants to compete with those two teams.
“What’s happened in the past is that there was a lot of talk about England before the tournament but England didn’t get there. We intend to take the lead in Rome in the way we want with the intensity we want, which England have not done again in recent years.
“We want this to be a different mentality for England, a different way to approach the game and approach the competition. And we will approach our camp in Girona in a different way. We are taking a different approach because we need different results from the previous competitions.”
Despite a number of England players being unavailable or out of action over the weekend, Borthwick believes his squad have not picked up any fresh injuries. Fullback Sam Underhill missed Bath’s game against Toulouse with an ankle injury and will undergo a modified training program at their warm-weather camp in Girona this week, while his back-row rival Ben Curry should be in to start training in despite Sale losing to La Rochelle. with a rolled ankle.
Leicester second-row Ollie Chessum failed a head injury assessment (HIA) but passed a second concussion test after the home win for Leinster, while Borthwick was waiting for more information on Harlequins center Oscar Beard who also failed in his HIA against Ulster.
Borthwick was still collecting all the fitness reports on Monday morning going into the Six Nations media launch and is frustrated by the flow of information from Premier League clubs.
“One of the challenges for the last Six Nations was the reporting systems between club and country as they should be and not as they will be next year, but nothing has changed from last year to until last year. ” said Borthwick. “Next year with improved EPS, we will be in a better position. At the moment we are dealing with information we don’t know about as quickly as possible, which is disappointing but we will have to continue to do the best we can.”
George: Farrell ‘one of the first people I told’ about the captain
New England captain Jamie George has revealed that his predecessor Owen Farrell was one of the first people he spoke to about taking on the role.
Adding that the pair have been “very, very close” since their time with Saracens and England, George revealed that Farrell told him he would always be there to offer any advice.
“[Farrell] he told me that if I needed anything, he was the first person I should call and he would always be there to chat,” George explained. “That is invaluable to me. We’ve worked together for a long time and I’ve been vice-captain at Saracens for a long time.”
Farrell stepped back from England after the Rugby World Cup to prioritize the mental wellbeing of his family and friends, and his England future remains uncertain after being linked with a move to join Racing 92 .
Addressing whether he had any similar concerns about the pressures that come with the role, George hoped that lessons had been learned from the criticism leveled at Farrell in recent years.
“I’m hopeful that we’ve learned a lot from Owen’s situation and that a lot of people out there have a better understanding of the reality of life, the reality of professional rugby players, that we’re all human. So I’m looking forward to a much more positive environment to be able to work in.”
George added that he weighed the consequences of taking on the role after Farrell’s experience, but the enormity of leading his country out against Italy and beyond was overwhelming. After he was first offered the role by Borthwick, the English actor took the weekend to consult with family members, but he compared the moment when Borthwick proposed to him.
“At the time I wanted to break his arm and say yes, but it was good to be able to talk to my family over the weekend and get their thoughts on it. I called him first thing on Monday to accept,” George explained.
“This is the biggest achievement of my life. Stepping out onto the pitch in Rome will be one of the best moments I will ever achieve.
“And I felt it was a decision that if I refused for other reasons I would regret it. I feel like I’m at a good point in my career to step up and take this on.”
The impact of new defense coach Felix Jones has already been a positive development, with Jones joining the England team after winning two Rugby World Cups with South Africa.
“I’ve had one meeting and I know for sure that England’s defense will take a lot of time and space from the opposition. It’s really exciting how aggressive we plan to be. When you add that to the caliber of players we have available, it’s going to be a fantastic Six Nations.”
