The Borthwick reaction to Vunipola red, latest England defeat
Steve Borthwick claimed post-game in Dublin that he had yet to take a second look at the Billy Vunipola red card against Ireland, the third sending-off for an England player in their last four matches.
The red cards brandished to Freddie Steward last March and to Owen Farrell last weekend were both downgraded to yellow card offences, but World Rugby have appealed the latter Farrell verdict and that case will be heard on Tuesday.
It won’t be the only disruption to England’s preparations for their fourth and final Summer Nations Series match next Saturday against Fiji in London, as Vunipola is now also facing a disciplinary hearing following his second-half expulsion in their lacklustre 10-29 defeat to Ireland.
Vunipola, who had struggled to impose himself on proceedings, was yellow carded on 53 minutes for driving his right shoulder into the head of the ball-carrying Andrew Porter.
Referee Paul Williams told the England No8 that the footage would be reviewed by the TMO bunker and that the sanction was open to getting upgraded to a red card.
The sending-off was confirmed some minutes later before play restarted after a James Lowe try had pushed Ireland 3-17 ahead, referee Williams getting told there was a “high degree of danger, no wrap, no mitigation”.
Vunipola’s expulsion now leaves England boss Borthwick potentially facing the September 9 start of the Rugby World Cup campaign versus Argentina in Marseille with two key players suspended, Vunipola and skipper Farrell.
“Clearly as you understand I am not going to comment on the incident specifically because it will go through a disciplinary process this coming week,” said the head coach at the top of his post-game media briefing in Dublin before diverting attention onto other aspects of the match.
He eventually returned to the hot topic some minutes later. “Now the specific incident today with Billy, I have not looked at it again because I was more focused on concentrating on the game and what we needed to do.
“But to be very clear, Kevin (Sinfield, defense coach) and I have gone on record many times and talked about what we coach and what we want to happen in the tackle and I stand by that.”
Had Borthwick spoken to Vunipola about what had happened? “I saw him very briefly in the changing rooms and clearly he is disappointed with the situation that has happened. We have got a process we need to go through, he understands that and we will await a conclusion this week.”
What were the England coach’s thoughts on the game, his team’s fourth loss in their last five outings? “Probably as every England fan feels, it’s disappointing the game today.
“I said before we need to keep 15 players on the pitch for every 80 minutes and when you are playing the No1 ranked side in their stadium and you go to 14 men, it becomes a very, very difficult task from that point in time.
“The players kept fighting. The players that came off the bench added. If you consider the first period of the game where it was 15-v-15 and we were going against a very good Ireland side, it was a tight battle.
“Just before half-time it was sitting at 7-3 and we missed opportunities and turned over the ball in the final third, so we weren’t able to put enough pressure on them.
“We missed some points at goal and the opportunity to go to the corner. When it was 15-on-15 it was a tight battle and unfortunately it didn’t stay 15 on 15.”
England went on to be outscored by three tries to one in the closing 27 minutes of the match that they played with a man less – and the deflating outcome marked their fifth defeat in the eight matches they have played since Borthwick took charge last December.
“I’m sure every England supporter is disappointed and I share that feeling with them and I am sure the players do also because we want to ensure that we win games and we want to be in a position to win games and winning becomes a habit. That is something we all share.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments