1
'Brings edge': Jeff Wilson's pick for a new All Blacks captain
38
The case for Steve Borthwick keeping his job
By Josh Raisey
Steve Borthwick has been no stranger to pressure and public scrutiny during his tenure as England head coach, but the heat he is currently facing is of biblical proportions and dwarfs anything he experienced in the autumn of 2024.
England’s loss to Italy on Saturday – their first ever – has turned a slump in form into a full-blown crisis and the knives are now out for the England boss.
The RFU have given him their backing, for the time being, but their statement can be read in a multitude of ways, and that may not fill him with supreme confidence.
VIDEO
Of course, there is a compelling case for Borthwick to lose his position. His selections during the Guinness Six Nations have been widely questioned, and England’s performances and manner of play have been worse. The substitutions he has made have often felt like hopeful rolls of the dice in the closing stages of matches rather than anything methodical or tactical. Those factors alone are damning and could be enough for him to lose his job.
While there is a veritable tidal wave of figures calling for his sacking, there is still a case for him to keep his job beyond the Six Nations.
Lions fatigue
Over the past decade, England’s anni horribiles have all come after a British and Irish Lions series. England finished fifth in the Six Nations in 2018, saw Eddie Jones sacked in 2022, and now seem to be experiencing an even more calamitous fallout due to greater representation in the 2025 Lions squad and when contrasted to heights they reached last year.
There is no doubt that England’s Lions contingent have not been at the level we’re used to. Captain Maro Itoje has had to battle with injury and personal tragedy since returning from Australia and can be totally forgiven for being emotionally and physically exhausted. He was probably having his best game since the summer against Italy, but a quick string of penalties around the hour mark that resulted in his yellow card are the hallmarks of lapses in concentration induced by fatigue (although the slap for the yellow card was dubious).
Itoje is in no way alone, though. Ellis Genge has been strong in the scrum but has also had some costly errors in his performances. Luke Cowan-Dickie was substituted before half-time against Ireland, Tom Curry has been better used in cameos as a substitute and Tommy Freeman has been blunted in attack, to name just a few examples.
Of course, other nations have had Lions players to manage as well – Ireland had the most on tour. But across the teams playing in round four, England actually had the highest number of players who were originally named in Andy Farrell’s Lions squad, 11, including Tom Curry, who withdrew minutes before the match. Jamie George also joined midway through the tour.
Ireland’s Ulster-heavy influence against Wales perhaps suggests they have rotated their squad more effectively in the wake of the Lions tour. That is something Borthwick has not been as successful in managing. He is therefore partly to blame for failing to rest some of his Lions players, but he has been let down by core members of his group who are simply exhausted.
A complete rest over the summer may actually do those players some good, particularly with the World Cup on the horizon.
Injuries
An argument can be made that England were without six players who would likely have been part of their ideal starting XV in Rome, or at least the matchday squad.
Tom Curry was a late withdrawal, while Alex Mitchell, Ollie Lawrence, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Fin Baxter and Will Stuart would all have been in and around a starting XV. George Martin, Ben Curry and even George Furbank, though fit now, are also long-term absentees. This has undoubtedly damaged England, but it has been felt most keenly in the final quarter of matches.
England’s previously vaunted ‘Pom Squad’ offered little impact as they trundled onto the Stadio Olimpico pitch at various stages. If anything, the substitutions made by Borthwick weakened the side rather than strengthened it, as they had done during the autumn.
While he can be blamed for the timing of substitutions, the players he had at his disposal were a result of the injury crisis England are currently experiencing.
With the injured contingent available, England’s performances would surely have been different.
Discipline
England have haemorrhaged penalties throughout the Championship and have averaged two yellow cards per match, one of which resulted in a red card for Henry Arundell against Scotland.
They have hit double figures for penalties conceded in every match. Some of these have been down to England’s clumsiness, profligacy and inefficiency at the breakdown on both sides of the ball, as well as the pressure they have found themselves under due to their weak defence. But there have also been some crass decisions taken by players that Borthwick can hardly be blamed for.
Arundell’s second yellow card against Scotland was scarcely the responsibility of a coach, just as Sam Underhill’s against Italy was not either. Underhill is usually a disciplined tackler.
Itoje’s yellow card in Rome seemed to epitomise the asinine thinking that appears rife in the England team at the moment, which may be a product of the pressure they are under.
The coaching team can certainly be blamed for penalties that arise from England’s tactical shortcomings, but the players equally need to take responsibility for some of the penalties they have been leaking.
Errors like England’s are not called coach killers for nothing.
2025
Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.
When England were on their 12-match winning run across 2025 and into the first match of 2026, many figures were praised. It was the attacking impetus of Lee Blackett, the defensive influence of Byron McGuigan, the leadership of Maro Itoje and the tactical nous of George Ford.
Now that things have turned sour, the fingers are being pointed squarely at Borthwick, and to a lesser extent Ford.
Though England’s winning run, which lifted them to third in the world, now seems like a distant memory, it must be remembered that Borthwick took them to those heights just a matter of months ago.
Even if he does lose his job, he deserves credit for that.
He’s been here before
England are in a similar position to the one they found themselves in in 2022, when Eddie Jones was sacked at the end of the year and replaced by Borthwick.
After a shaky 2023 Six Nations, Borthwick guided England to within one long-range penalty from South Africa’s Handré Pollard of reaching the World Cup final less than a year after taking over.
Admittedly, that run came while playing some fairly turgid rugby, but it did show that Borthwick has the credentials to turn a ship around.
However, whereas he inherited a mess created by Eddie Jones in 2022, he is now dealing with a mess he has largely created himself. That may make turning things around far more difficult this time, and that could make all the difference.
