Jamie George: You'll see the real England in Rome

They already said that after the match at Murrayfield, and we saw the result… Easy to say that about Italy, that (if I remember right) England never lose against in the 6N. But Italy isn’t a victim anymore. If it’s just words and nothing change, I bet a coin on Italy. And even if they win against Italy, well, they gonna be destroyed by the French a week later. Italy isn’t a victim, but still needs time. It’s like losing against equal level teams, again and again, and then pick a less leveled team and say “see, we gonna win, look we are strong”. It’s useless. It means nothing.

Does I need to remember everyone that Italy nearly won against Ireland, in Ireland ? And failed because of a forward pass the ref was completely right to call out. The very same pass England did against Scotland and that was allowed by the ref, against all the rules of rugby. Had Italy been treated equally as England (even if it’s against the rules of rugby, and I don't like that at all), they would have won. Can’t say the same about England, still losing in Scotland.

This is very worrying when a senior England player does not recognise the fans disgust.

There is a malaise in camp and it stops with the management .

All the team looked clueless and utterly rudderless from 100 cap players way past their best.

It needs passion instilling and Borthwick is like last years fireworks . Gone off.

Everyone is saying England lack the X factor like other teams yet have Marcus on the bench.

A true game changer.

To me Fin is very good but a Ford Mk2 and didn’t do very well for the lions when he had a chance . It needs zip and nous .

Can Borthwick have the courage to spice things up .

I’m sorry but something has happened in camp for the sudden nosedive in performance and energy levels. If the fixes were simple and could be done then why weren’t the corrections made during the game. There is too much talk from the camp. People would much rather they shut up and focussed on the task at hand which is to produce a good performance on the field

The Italians must feel great about this. They’ll make England look good again.

We certainly aren’t a bad team overnight…We aren’t that far away from it.

Jamie George

After Borthwick implied England would be in France to win the 6Ns, it’s probably best if England just STFU for a while and not make any assertions that could potentially make England look like bigger tits than they already are.

This is the real England. Can’t deal with pressure and expectation. Just ask Eddie Jones. They have no collective grit. Well-coached (from a young age, private schools, domestically), skilled players, but no hard guys. Perhaps the private school system doesn’t develop grit.

So the team for the first 3 games of this crucial tournament ahead of the 2027 World Cup was the Fake England?

I get what George is trying to say, but this goes beyond a bad start or a snowball effect. When you concede 40 at home and look second-best physically and mentally for long stretches, that’s not “not far away” — that’s a collective failure of intensity and belief. Italy in Rome isn’t about seeing the “real England”, it’s about proving they still have one. If they don’t front up emotionally and defensively, the Stadio Olimpico will be a far tougher test than England seem to think.

I heard Ian Madigan say the following about how some of England’s attacking broke down.

1: They don’t like to go high in the phase count to score.

2: Scotland and Ireland made England go high in the phase count.

3: Ireland especially were very determined not to be disciplined which would allow a pan advantage and a 5 metre lineout or tap.

4: Ireland were Ok conceding a metre here and there to achieve this

5: Eventually after the phase count goes over 10 fatigue and inaccuracies come into play for England.

6: Not necessarily unforced errors by England it was more who made the errors first.

7: Ireland trained to defend high in the phase count, which is not England’s game.

NB* England missing touch from any penalties the did get does not help

NB** If George thinks that Italy won’t be as tactically astute as Scotland/Ireland or won’t have at least as much intent, then England are heading for the mother of all upsets.

I’ve found it quite odd seeing people say that Borthwick’s job could be in danger if England lose in Rome and Paris. If England finish the 6N with 1 win and 4 losses Borthwick is 100% gone, no ifs, no buts.

But I don’t think England will lose in Rome. This slump does feel like its temporary. If England just got back to kicking; ran more lineout drills in training; and defended like a team that cared about winning, they’d be right up there.