Sir Clive Woodward hits out at ‘unbelievable’ Jamie George’s admission that ‘simply cannot be tolerated’

Ex-England head coach Sir Clive Woodward has slammed Steve Borthwick’s team’s performance in defeat to Australia.

Woodward rued England’s inability to capitalise on the big moments in Test matches, highlighting Maro Itoje’s spill after his try that looked to have won the game before Australia snatched the victory with Max Jorgensen diving over in the corner.

However, the former head coach was even more annoyed by the comments of Jamie George after the defeat with the captain’s admission deemed as ‘unacceptable’ by Woodward.

Losing key moments

“England losing key moments, like the restart with the clock virtually in the red on Saturday, is happening far too often and that’s why they’re losing matches,” Woodward wrote in his Daily Mail column.

“Borthwick is now going to come under a lot of pressure. That is the lot of an international head coach. You are defined by your results and England are losing too often right now.

“So, it is inevitable that there will be heat on Borthwick. There must be a response.”

England muscled their way into a 15-3 lead in the first half with Chandler Cunningham-South crossing the whitewash twice in the opening 20 minutes.

Opinion: England sacked their coaching Donald Trump but have replaced him with Sleepy Joe Biden

However, Australia fought their way back into the game with Tom Wright and Harry Wilson grabbing tries before half time with Noah Lolesio putting the visitors 18-20 ahead at the break.

Speaking after the game, George said that England got their tactics correct in the first quarter of the match but did not maintain their standards.

“The blueprint of how we wanted to play was in the first 20 minutes of the game, I think we put Australia under a lot of pressure,” George told TNT Sports.

“Sometimes, in a Test match like that, you think the job is done. We took our foot off the gas. You have to give credit to Australia, they were very good tonight, but we can’t keep doing that. It will be a tough one to watch back.”

England’s leadership picking up the pieces after ‘unacceptable’ defeat to the Wallabies

“Unacceptable”

Woodward took exception to George’s comments.

“What worries me about England and Test rugby’s big moments is their concentration. I’m not sure it is 100 per cent there,” he wrote.

“The crucial restart was one just example. But on TNT Sports after the game, captain Jamie George admitted some of his team-mates switched off when England were in control and leading 15-3 in the first half. That is unbelievable. It simply cannot be tolerated at the highest level. Borthwick and his players need to stamp out that element of complacency and quickly.”

Still, the ex-England boss believes that Borthwick’s charges could turn things around against the Springboks when they host the world champions at Twickenham Stadium next week.

“There is a very real chance that with back-to-back world champions South Africa up next, England will suffer a third straight autumn defeat,” he added.

“That comes on the back of two summer losses in New Zealand. Such a run is unacceptable for any England team, even if the sides they have faced in that time have been tough opponents.”

READ MORE: The ‘woeful’ England defence stats that should worry Steve Borthwick ahead of Springboks clash