sport news Harsh reality sinks in as England coach Steve Borthwick faces a huge salvage ... trends now
The post-mortem was due to start as soon as England returned to their team hotel without the Calcutta Cup.
Steve Borthwick has a formidable work ethic, which is just as well. Now there is some uncomfortable evidence to go on, the new England coach will be painfully aware that there is a lot to do, in a hurry — perhaps even more than he first feared.
Asked if he would ‘park it’ for the night, after the shattering defeat by Scotland or go straight into review mode, Borthwick said: ‘You know I’ll be looking closely at it, at the earliest opportunity.’
The initial phase of positive mission statements and collective purpose has given way to the cold, hard reality of a grim predicament. This was a third straight defeat by the Scots and a fourth in the last six encounters.
It was yet another opening loss to a series or tournament, leaving England facing the spectre of another ill-fated campaign.
It is clear that England head coach Steve Borthwick is faced with a huge salvage operation
There has been a surge of goodwill towards the new regime, but now they have been pitched straight into an up-against-the-clock revival race, knowing that the course ahead is treacherous. Welcome to the hot seat, Steve.
There were some promising signs. But many of the fans who packed the stands would have hoped for an immediate bounce-back result after the autumn calamities which led to Eddie Jones’s dismissal. Instead, big Duhan van der Merwe and his fellow visitors spoiled the relaunch event in fine style.
Patience is needed. This is a major project. But equally true is the fact that, whatever the circumstances, England always expects. With so much talent available and with unsurpassed resources to call on, home defeats against any neighbours with far less player depth will jar, whether coaches have had seven years with their squad or just 11 days.
The problems faced by England were evident during their 29-23 defeat against Scotland
England will be favourites to dispatch Italy on Sunday even though the Azzurri came so close to beating France yesterday, but then it becomes trickier. Wales in Cardiff will serve as a fascinating early test of urgent salvage operations either side of the Severn Bridge, and Warren Gatland’s side will have partisan fervour in their favour.
Then England must take on the world’s top two teams; France at home, Ireland away.
No wonder Borthwick knows he can’t afford to waste a minute. A repeat of the three-defeat campaigns of the last two years would alarm the RFU and the English rugby public. Four losses from five doesn’t bear thinking about; rebuild or no rebuild.
All the talk had been about striving for clarity and going back to basics. Yet, a simplified approach requires the
