‘Disappointed’ Steve Borthwick identifies key difference between England and ‘world-class’ Ireland

David Skippers
Steve Borthwick and Marcus Smith image

England head coach Steve Borthwick, and fly-half Marcus Smith in action against Ireland.

England head coach Steve Borthwick highlighted why his team suffered a 27-22 defeat to Ireland in their thrilling Six Nations opener at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

The Red Rose were competitive during the opening half and the teams changed sides with them holding a deserved 10-5 lead at half-time. This, after debutant flyer Cadan Murley crossed for a converted try early on and Marcus Smith slotted a penalty on the stroke of half-time with Ireland’s only points coming via a Jamison Gibson-Park try.

However, Ireland took control of proceedings after the interval and held a 27-10 lead by the 73rd minute following five-pointers from Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne and Dan Sheehan, before England struck back with consolation tries from Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman.

That means England endured another frustrating day at the office, with a couple of victories over Japan their only positive results in their last nine matches.

‘You see two different teams’

“If you look at today’s game, you see two different teams,” said Borthwick after the match. “You have seen an Ireland team that has been together such a huge amount of time, nearly 1,200 caps, and an England team that has been building over the last six months, with just over half that number of caps.

“If you watched that at the start of the game, you would be saying you don’t see that difference. You see an England team that wants to play aggressively with the ball, wants to move the ball, and we took a step forward in that attack.

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“We want to win every game and we didn’t today and are disappointed by that. But there are elements we will take and build that show the progress of this team over the last 10 days in the training camp.”

England’s latest defeat will increase the pressure on Borthwick after his side lost seven out of 12 Tests in 2024. He sprung a selection surprise by naming a mobile back-row – with Tom and Ben Curry on the flanks alongside Ben Earl at number eight – and that decision seemed justified as England held an edge during the opening half.

Happy with England’s progress

However, Ireland soaked up that early pressure and started to gain the upper hand in the third quarter and eventually finished as deserved winners and although Borthwick was full of praise for his opponents, he feels he is moving in the right direction with his side.

“From the messages I have already received, you have seen a team that is starting to really develop how we want to move the ball, really develop how we want to attack, and you saw a team that worked exceptionally hard for each other,” he said.

“Ireland are a world-class team and have been world-class for so long. Ultimately, that experience was told in the third quarter, where I thought tactically they played really well. That allowed them to get the scoreboard pressure that we wouldn’t claw back.”

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