England great claims Steve Borthwick’s side have suffered ‘demonstrable regression’ and raises concerns about 2025 Six Nations
England head coach Steve Borthwick and the players before Springboks clash, and former hooker Brian Moore.
Brian Moore is concerned that England simply do not have the ability to improve under the guidance of Steve Borthwick following their latest defeat.
On the face of it, the Red Rose produced a reasonable performance against the Springboks, but the back-to-back world champions proved too strong at Twickenham, emerging 29-20 triumphant.
England had their chances to snatch the win but, just like against the All Blacks and the Wallabies, they failed to get the job done.
It has piled more pressure on head coach Borthwick, who has presided over five successive defeats in 2024.
There are those who are positive about the direction they are heading in, with their losses – against some of the best teams in the world – by the tiniest of margins, but critics state that it is only the results which matter.
While performance is one way of measuring progression, at some stage they have to be on the right side of the scoreline to convince the naysayers.
‘Worrying’
“It is natural that pundits such as Courtney Lawes, until recently a senior member of Borthwick’s charges, take this optimistic line and all England fans want this supposition to be true,” Moore wrote in his Telegraph column.
“However, there is another, equally plausible prism through which this could be viewed. What this belief ignores is the possibility that this set of England players are playing to their maximum and that the narrow losses against sides as good as New Zealand and South Africa represent the limit of their potential.
“So, where are we if the alternative, unpalatable, hypothesis is true, because it is as equally logical as the original contention. The fact is that we simply do not know and that is worrying because the longer this deja vu continues, it is more likely – not less – that something fundamental is wrong.”
Moore is particularly concerned by the team’s defence following the resignation of coach Felix Jones.
Joe El-Abd has since taken over that role but the rearguard has been abysmal in the Autumn Nations Series, as evidenced by the 95 points conceded over the three matches.
“England had seemingly made a lot of progress in their defence under former defensive coach Felix Jones and the circumstances that led to Borthwick losing his services are still not crystal clear,” Moore wrote.
“Whatever the truth, Jones’ departure has led to demonstrable regression, but is this just a question of players not doing their job or something that stems from confusion over the defensive systems and philosophy?
“At times, it looks like both, and England’s management have to be accountable for that.”
More difficult fixtures
After losses to the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks, England have an ideal chance to end their losing run when they take on Japan.
However, that will be their final game until the start of the 2025 Six Nations where they open with matches against the two best teams in Europe, Ireland and France.
Defeats there and in the following encounter versus Scotland would be catastrophic and could potentially make Borthwick’s position untenable.
“Unfortunately for Borthwick, aside from the final fixture against the transitioning Japanese side, he has two challenging games against France and Ireland in the opening rounds of the next Six Nations tournament, followed by Scotland, against whom they have won only one of their past seven encounters,” Moore added.
“Given that two losses in that tournament means scrapping for mid-table mediocrity, the situation would then look bleak indeed.
“Unless Borthwick and his coaching team can conjure a cogent near 80-minute performance soon, it would not be unreasonable for England’s faithful fans to lose confidence in the whole edifice.”
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