Steve Borthwick’s England have two wins from three Six Nations fixtures ahead of facing the championship’s bottom two sides in Italy and Wales – but their game plan and the manner of their performances have left many questioning them.
In the opening round, a promising first-half display against Ireland in Dublin was quickly wiped away as England fell 27-10 behind until four minutes to play – two late tries burgling a losing bonus point.
On the second weekend, England welcomed France to Twickenham and common consensus afterwards was Les Bleus squandered at least three clear try opportunities to move out of sight before a plucky home side stuck in there and won 26-25 with the final attack.
This weekend, England hosted Scotland at Twickenham, winning by a single point again as Finn Russell missed a last-gasp conversion to claim victory for the away side.
Truthfully, England should probably be sat with three defeats from three, such has been the quality of their displays: too negative and kick-focused. But the players must also be complimented for finding ways to win.
England won the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 2020, but they were second best for large spells
O’Driscoll: I don’t get why England play so negatively – there is way more in this team
On Saturday against Scotland, the stats from an England perspective make for grim reading.
Despite facing one of their biggest rivals on home soil – Borthwick’s side were looking to beat Scotland for the first time since 2020 – England ceded 59 per cent territory and 58 per cent possession.
Scotland outscored England by three tries to one, carried for nearly double the amount of metres – 933 vs 474 – made nine line breaks to England’s two and beat 35 defenders to England’s 10.
If Russell had landed even one conversion, England were beaten. Not to mind the countless chances ball in hand the visitors failed to take.
Finn Russell missed three conversions as victory slipped through Scotland’s fingers
Then there’s also the issue of the referee. Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend questioned Pierre Brousset’s breakdown penalty decision which allowed Fin Smith to kick England six points ahead in the second half, incorrectly made Russell take the final conversion of the match two metres in from touch instead of the correct mark on the five, and awarded Tommy Freeman’s first half try without a clear grounding.
Former England international Andy Goode posted on X afterwards: “England’s man of the match was the ref Pierre Brousset!”
Speaking on ITV Sport on Sunday, former Ireland centre Brian O’Driscoll admitted he was at a loss as to England’s current game plan, arguing there is talent at Borthwick’s disposal to play a different way.
“My take was it wasn’t great viewing. Scotland, in fairness, played all the rugby and on the balance of things deserved to win. They couldn’t quite grab it at the end.
“I watch a lot of these England players playing in the Premiership, they are much better in some parts.
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has questioned the crucial penalty decision that led to England’s victory in the Calcutta Cup
“They have the capacity. These guys do it for their clubs every weekend. I know club rugby isn’t international rugby but there’s way more in this England team than the talent we’re seeing on show is being released.
“Alex Mitchell playing for Northampton Saints is unrecognisable comparatively when he’s playing for England at the moment. There was 16 box-kicks. Ollie Lawrence got hardly any possession in the centre. I don’t get it.
“I don’t know why there isn’t a cohesion, why we haven’t seen three years of Steve Borthwick coming together. There’s no real focus or plan. It’s stodgy, it’s kick-tennis, and it’s quite negative.
“It’s fine when you eke out one-point victories, but when those results go against you playing that way – which they will at times – you are going to get huge negative feedback. The crowd won’t be onside.
Following England’s 16-15 victory over Scotland in the Six Nations, England head coach Steve Borthwick says victory was ‘great’ for his ‘evolving and developing’ side
“They have a young 10 in Fin Smith. If you had an Owen Farrell in there, would he agree to playing that way? Kicking the leather off the ball? Certainly as an outside-centre, I wouldn’t enjoy just chasing it all day long. There’s no fun in that. You want to play with ball in hand.”
In last year’s Six Nations when England beat Ireland at Twickenham in the best performance of the Borthwick era, they played without abandon and positively, offloading and connecting with ball in hand to create chances and score tries.
The next seven times England faced tier-one opposition they lost: France in Lyon, New Zealand in Dunedin and Auckland, New Zealand (again), Australia and South Africa at Allianz Stadium Twickenham and Ireland in Dublin. In every one of those Tests, Borthwick’s side surrendered second-half leads.
Perhaps such a run has caused the coaches and players to tighten England up, but the evidence is there that the squad are playing within themselves and replicating the last three performances would leave the chances of continued, long-term success unsustainable.
James Cole assesses England’s dramatic win over Scotland in the Six Nations
Six Nations fixtures: Round 4
Saturday March 8
Ireland vs France (2.15pm)
Scotland vs Wales (4.45pm)
Sunday March 9
England vs Italy (3pm)
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