LONG READ Mick Cleary: 'Two more England losses and the vultures will be licking their lips.'

England will be on familiar territory in Rome surrounded by ruins. The rubble of their own shattered dreams lay strewn across Twickenham on Saturday as night closed in. Dark times indeed.

There should be no attempt to sugarcoat the experiences of the last fortnight. Defeat is one thing: humiliation quite another. The scars will take a long time to heal and will be visible for any opposition right up to next year’s Rugby World Cup. Intangibles – aura, self-confidence, strut and swagger, fear of risk-taking, being cowed and insular – do actually matter. For starters, if they didn’t there would be no need for the legion of sports psychologists that have such a valid and valuable role in the business. England are in need of some serious therapy. The drapes will be drawn in the darkened rooms of Pennyhill Park in the coming days.

We shouldn’t expect Steve Borthwick to go tonto and publicly berate his players. He was staunch in his immediate defence of poor old George Ford who had a shocker with his kicks to touch, shanking the ball horribly and wasting a gilt-edged chance for position and potential points. Just because Borthwick backed his men in the post-match shakedown does not mean that he will wear the no.10 shirt at the Stadio Olimpico. In fact, he shouldn’t. Fin Smith needs to be back where he was a year ago, leading the line and getting good things from those around him.

It is not Borthwick’s style but he should note how Andy Farrell has managed to raise his players emotionally from the torpor of their opening night in Paris. The Ireland head coach couldn’t help but hide his anger at his side’s lack of ‘intent’ and ‘fight.’ These traits are non-negotiables. A snapshot of Farrell and assistant coach, Paul O’Connell, jumping from their Twickenham seats as Stuart McCloskey hunted down Marcus Smith ought to be framed at England’s training HQ. As Brian O’Driscoll wryly mentioned on ITV comms, he hadn’t seen O’Connell as animated even when they won a Grand Slam together. Desire, intensity, rage, every second matters, every action consequential – England have lost their way as regards the basic tenets of the game. They are careless, jittery and hag-worn, limp and lifeless. And for no apparent good reason.

You have to shake your head in disbelief to recall that it was only three weeks ago that we were extolling England for the quality of their leadership set-up – Maro Itoje, George Ford and Ellis Genge. What has happened to the men on the bridge? England have been run on to the rocks. Your heart bleeds for Itoje in particular. He is nowhere near his best and has had to suffer the indignity of being tactically subbed twice in successive weeks. No player is above the interests of the team? Well, that’s cobblers. Would Martin Johnson or Richie McCaw be handled in that way? No, they wouldn’t. Again, some of a team’s self-esteem leaks when the number board goes up and the captain begins his walk to the sidelines.

England need a big hurry-up first and foremost. Borthwick effectively has a professorship in coaching strategies drawn from all sports and all quarters. The head coach needs to thumb through his manuals and locate ‘H’ for hairdryer or ‘T’ for tea-cups.

Of course we understand Itoje’s recent trauma of losing his mother. But if he has been so affected and unable to reach his customary emotional heights then he should be spared exposure. If his niggling knee injury is impairing performance, then likewise – remove him from the fray. It would all be perfectly normal and acceptable if this were so.

As it is, England need a big hurry-up first and foremost. Borthwick effectively has a professorship in coaching strategies drawn from all sports and all quarters. The head coach needs to thumb through his manuals and locate ‘H’ for hairdryer or ‘T’ for tea-cups. If it takes a mass bollocking to get the desired response, then so be it. It worked for Farrell and Ireland. Something, anything, needs to happen if England are to pull out of this nosedive. Their form away from home has been modest.

It is far from inconceivable that they could lose their final two fixtures against Italy and France. They are alone among the six nations of the championship in never having lost to Italy. Who would reach into their back pockets and wager that record will still be standing in two weeks’ time? That is the measure of the crisis that England find themselves in. Where is their Roy Keane to tell a few home truths?  Or their chest-out Lawrence Dallaglio? There are times when pumped-up rhetoric is misplaced, a simplistic reading of the room, inappropriate old-school vibes for the modern era. This is not one of those times.

Of course there are many technical issues to rectify, notably their game management and tactical strategy. Their defence is woeful, broken almost at will. Discipline plays into that failing with penalties and yellow cards conceded. England’s work at the breakdown is also under-clubbed. Statistician Russ Petty came up with a remarkable stat via Opta that England’s combined total of penalties and turnovers (38) was their worst in 15 years. The ledger of statistical shame continues: 12 entries into the 22 compared to Ireland’s nine. Guess which team had the greater return.

The back-row as it stood on Saturday is too ‘samey’.   England need an Ollie Chessum at 6, the power of a Pieter-Steph du Toit, the athleticism of a Tadhg Beirne. That has been an Itoje sort of role in the past.

England have seemingly abandoned the notion of phase play, putting all their eggs in a kick-chase policy, Maybe it’s their lack of faith in their breakdown work which would be a grave deficiency if it held any truth. At the risk of banging an old drum, then let’s give it a full Keith Moon wallop if it means getting Jack Willis back into consideration (brother Tom is a slightly different case although his presence wouldn’t go amiss). But Jack Willis ought to be more straightforward. The Toulouse flanker is one of the finest breakdown players in Europe if not the world. Any England 2027 World Cup mission has to have him in the No 7 shirt. It’s never too late to revoke a policy if the potential reward is that great. South Africa and Argentina don’t seem to fare too badly when picking from overseas.

The back-row as it stood on Saturday is too ‘samey’.   England need an Ollie Chessum at 6, the power of a Pieter-Steph du Toit, the athleticism of a Tadhg Beirne. That has been an Itoje sort of role in the past.

It’s sobering to realise that England do have a solid set-piece, even if Borthwick did blunder in not starting the more reliable thrower in Jamie George. England’s opening period of play against Scotland and Ireland has been lamentable.

Borthwick is safe in his job even if you could imagine that were he the England football manager his position would be in jeopardy. That said, he does need to up his game, to change tack (less kicking, more nuanced attack) and even his muted public demeanour. He was right to say that after 12 consecutive victories England did not merit the ‘world-beaters’ claim that was made on their behalf but, please Steve, spare us the notion that your team ‘is on a journey of development.’  It doesn’t wash. Two years ago, maybe. Within 18 months of a World Cup, no and no again. The 2026 Six Nations is not a laboratory testing ground.

England are in the mire, bizarrely so given how they came into the new year. But there it is. Sport is a merciless reckoner. Two wins now on the road might balance the scales. But two losses and the vultures will be licking their lips. And who could deny them a feeding frenzy?