Comment: Steve Borthwick’s ambitions for Paris have shrunk from hitting the jackpot to simply keeping his job
It's crunch time for England head coach Steve Borthwick.
How Steve Borthwick must wish he could turn back time; suggest England fans stay home and sort the garden rather than ‘flood across the Channel’ to Paris for the final game of the Six Nations.
How he must regret getting ahead of himself before a ball had been kicked, pushing too hard on the throttle by declaring “we want to be in a position in that game to get what we all want to achieve”.
After 11 successive wins and a year unbeaten he felt his squad was capable of responding to such a public challenge.
“People can see the potential that’s in this group,” he said. “They can see the direction this team is going on, the way it is tracking.”
Job on the line
Six weeks on and all that sounds rather silly. Rather than play for the title on Super Saturday, England must beat the champions to avoid losing four games in a single Six Nations campaign.
That has never happened before. In the space of six weeks Borthwick‘s ambitions for Paris have shrunk from hitting the jackpot to simply keeping his job.
Asked by ITV on Saturday night when the conversation has to start about the coach’s future, former England star Ugo Monye replied: “It has to start now. Of course it does.
“You look at the teams in the Six Nations. France are top, they’re the champions and tracking pretty well. Scotland are getting better. Italy are getting better. Wales are getting better.
“England are on the slide, battling to not win the wooden spoon. That’s where we’re currently at.
“How do you arrest it? Because it’s only ever one of two things. It’s either the players or the coach, and I think the potential of the players isn’t quite being met by the vision of the head coach at the moment.”
That last sentiment is key to what happens next. This feels very much like 2018 when England lost their last three games in the championship to finish fifth, then the first two Tests on tour in South Africa.
Eddie Jones was in charge at the time and the calculation made by the Rugby Football Union was that the Australian “had tremendous credit at the union for what he’s done… and has earned the right to make a strong case for the way ahead.”
The credit to which Andy Cosslett, then RFU chairman, referred was back-to-back Six Nations titles, one a Grand Slam, and a tier one world record-equalling 18 successive Test wins.
Borthwick has no such insurance. And the sight of Scotland dancing on the grave of France’s Grand Slam dream will only add to his anxiety. Les Bleus will be smarting. Saturday has the potential to get very messy indeed.
As England decamped from the Italian capital Bill Sweeney, chief executive of the RFU, described the hat-trick of losses as “hugely disappointing”.
He insisted those in the corridors of power felt it every bit as keenly as the public and acknowledged England fans “rightly expect a team that learns and grows through adversity”.
Sweeney signed off by saying the union “remain fully committed” to supporting Borthwick and his coaching team and will work together to put it right.
In which case, they must drill down into Monye’s assertion that the potential of the players isn’t currently being met by the vision of the head coach.
It is hard to quantify potential, easier to assess vision which, in the case of England’s gameplan is basic with a capital B: secure the set-piece, win the aerial contest. Beyond that there are no surprises. There is no cunning, no pace; frankly, no clue.
Scotland and Ireland saw nothing to be afraid of and picked England apart inside half an hour. Both games were lost before Team Borthwick had a point on the board.
At Stadio Olimpico England at least started better. They still could not score in the opening quarter but did lead for the first time since opening weekend. They won the early contestables and strung together phases as Italy absorbed rather than sought to disrupt.
But once Gonzalo Quesado’s fast-improving team shifted from reactive to proactive, England quickly became ragged in appearance, muddled in thinking, predictable in their response.
Scotland produced a masterpiece against France by being brave, by investing in risk for the sake of reward. England, in contrast, were painting by numbers.
Goodness knows where the influence of attack coach Lee Blackett, so pronounced in the autumn, has gone; where the ambition, the discipline, the leadership of the group now resides.
It has all disappeared inside a month. Three weeks ago Borthwick was sitting on 12 consecutive wins and urging critics to lay off Gregor Townsend after Scotland lost in Rome.
Contrasting moods
Next weekend Townsend plays for the championship and a Triple Crown while Borthwick heads to one of the culinary capitals of Europe desperately trying to avoid a wooden spoon.
In 2018, Danny Cipriani was brought in from the cold to win a match for England, snap the losing streak and save Jones’ job. A year later the Australian took that team to a World Cup final.
Borthwick needs a ‘Cipriani’ next weekend. The trouble is, having made 10 changes for Rome, he has no new cards to play.
If, as Rassie Erasmus contends, the Cumbrian “thinks like a machine”, the time is now for a reboot. Because lose again and his power supply may well be switched off.
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READ MORE: RFU make position on Steve Borthwick future clear after Italy defeat
