LONG READ Does a crowd have the right to boo their team if they're not being entertained?

The sound of England supporters booing their own team has become a disconcerting backdrop to the Steve Borthwick era. It happened at the World Cup in France and it happened again on Saturday at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.

Alex Mitchell’s 12th box kick in 48 minutes prompted a loud minority of the home fans to vocalise their discontent. They had endured enough of England kicking the leather off the ball at every available opportunity and let the team and Borthwick know their thoughts.

They should have been especially maddened by the fact that this particular box kick came off decent front-foot ball. Ellis Genge had thundered into the Scotland defence from a lineout and made a chunky dent, England were moving forwards at pace but because the team was still in their own half, Alex Mitchell chose to press the brake pedal. Computer said no. So the ruck was lengthened, the ball was eased to the back of it and eventually sent heavenwards by the England scrum-half. Again.

The noise which accompanied it was unmistakable that of a fanbase turning on their own team.

From a neutral’s point of view you could empathise with their frustration. England’s robotic obsession with the boot, back with a vengeance after all the talk of attacking with courage, made for sterile viewing. But should disgruntled Red Rose fans have the right to turn on their own team? Can they even be branded proper fans if they do so?

The argument goes that because punters pay £170 to watch England play at home that gives them the right to voice their opinion.

Well, yes, freedom of speech and all that, but nowhere on the ticket does it say the spectator will be guaranteed an entertaining brand of rugby for their outlay, merely a game of rugby. There is no refund mechanism tied into the number of scrum-half  box-kicks. Just as well for the RFU or their financial losses might be even bigger this year.

Borthwick has now been in charge for 13 Six Nations games during which time England have scored 34 tries. Over the same period France have scored 55, Ireland 49 and Scotland 39.

If you are an England rugby fan you would be safest to assume that, while the final stages of every game will be exciting because the result is always in doubt until the last play, the actual rugby won’t be. That is not Borthwick’s default setting.

The boo boys who went after Owen Farrell in France at that tournament had gone quiet by the knockout stages when they realised that for all its ugliness, Borth-ball was carrying England deep into the tournament but now it seems they are back.

There have been dalliances with a more progressive style over the past year but last weekend was a regression to the absolute basics of safety-first, boot-heavy pressure rugby with England kicking away 69 per cent of their possession.

It was unpalatable – unwatchable even in some periods – but it was the brand, lest we forget, that took England to a creditable third place at the World Cup and within a whisker of eliminating the world champion Springboks in the semi-final.

The boo boys who went after Owen Farrell in France at that tournament had gone quiet by the knockout stages when they realised that for all its ugliness, Borth-ball was carrying England deep into the tournament but now it seems they are back.

Does it show up England rugby fans – or some of them anyway – as entitled and presumptuous? Or is it the message Borthwick needs to hear?

In-game feedback like this from the fans that are supposed to be behind them is uncomfortable for players – more so that antagonism from away fans.

There was an isolated outbreak during the autumn at the Allianz Stadium when George Ford was booed as he waited to come off the bench against Australia. That was more to do with the fact that it looked like Marcus Smith would be going off – he wasn’t, he was moving to full-back – but Ford didn’t care for it. As he noted afterwards: “When you are representing your country and you’ve done it for a long time, you would expect the crowd to be fully behind you. It’s a funny way to be.”

This time, against Scotland, it was Mitchell – and then to a lesser degree Fin Smith – on the receiving end.

Mitchell is not some box-kick battery hen. It is the polar opposite of the sort of rugby he plays at Northampton. It is just not his natural game.

Mitchell has the temperament to deal with it, his director of rugby at Northampton Phil Dowson believes. “He’s very resilient. He’s very thick-skinned. I don’t think he would lose too much sleep over it,” said Dowson. But he shouldn’t have to put up with it from his own supporters.

He would not have been putting up another pre-programmed kick with any joy in his heart. He did it because he was told to do it. Much the same for Fin Smith launching cross-kicks into the sky or Marcus Smith marking potential counter-attack ball in his own ‘22.

They were under orders too. Or that’s what we must assume.

Mitchell is not some box-kick battery hen. It is the polar opposite of the sort of rugby he plays at Northampton. It is just not his natural game.

“No, I don’t think it is but the game dictates sometimes how you need to play it and also Steve has tactics he wants to implement,” said Dowson.

“The fact that he is able to switch his game from our environment to their environment is a very positive thing. Whether or not that’s getting the best out of him, I can’t answer that particularly. I think Steve would probably be a better person to ask.”

The conditions were perfect for moving the ball as Scotland showed but England don’t play in their own half under Borthwick. They hardly play anywhere. They certainly didn’t at the weekend but the ends, grisly as they were, justified the means because the Calcutta Cup is back in English hands.

In all probability – although Wales may yet have a say in this on the final weekend of the championship – England will finish the Six Nations with four wins. The last time they did that was five years ago. Something to cheer rather than boo.

England fans have to be happy about that, don’t they?

In all probability – although Wales may yet have a say in this on the final weekend of the championship – England will finish the Six Nations with four wins. The last time they did that was five years ago. Something to cheer rather than boo.

England always beat Italy and there is no reason to suspect any other outcome this season when they face the Azzurri in a fortnight. France just put 70 points on the Azzurri and the expectation will be that England beat them easily at home too.

But England supporters will go to the game expecting – demanding even – a try-fest and that could be a problem for the team.

It will be interesting though to hear what happens in the stands if England fail to function again as an attacking threat.

More of the same and, unhelpful or not, it is unlikely they will wait as long as 48 minutes next time to let Borthwick know what they think.

For all that England are winning again, the natives remain restless.