Steve Borthwick: The England I inherited from Eddie Jones weren?t good at anything
Steve Borthwick said that the England team under Eddie Jones ?weren?t good at anything? as he plots a big rebuild after defeat in their opening Six Nations game.
The new England head coach lost his first Test in charge 29-23 to Scotland, who now hold the Calcutta Cup for the fifth time in six years.
Borthwick, who has had only 11 days of training with his players, saw signs of a revival despite the defeat, but said that he was alarmed at how poor England had become under Jones.
?I?ve been frank from day one in saying there?s a lot of work to do,? he said after the loss at Twickenham. ?When I looked at the team in the autumn, when I got all the data for the team, we weren?t good at anything.
?There?s multiple areas that we have tried to change. You saw some improvement in the scrum, which I was pleased about, because it has been ranked as the worst scrum in Tier One rugby [in 2022].
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?We saw some improvements in the attack and speed of ball, and we tried to improve the breakdown, where I think England were ranked the ninth-quickest, so one of the slowest in Tier One.
?There were bits there where I would expect in a few weeks? time ? well, next week [against Italy] is my aim ? those cracks [that] appeared and allowed them in won?t be there next week.
?When you are trying to develop and build a team, you?d like it to be nice, smooth sailing, but unfortunately it wasn?t. I feel disappointed with the result. I asked the players to do some things differently. I have asked the players to play a new way.
?One thing I have got to do is get the players to believe in themselves and bring their strengths to the pitch. Get them to play to the best of themselves, which I don?t think we have seen them do for a while. I think you saw an improvement in that regard.? Borthwick was heartened by England?s reaction to slipping 7-0 down inside 15 minutes, as they built a 20-12 lead in the second half, but was disappointed with the defence, and the way that they allowed Scotland back into the game.
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In the first half England missed five tackles on Duhan van der Merwe, as the Scotland wing scored from 55 metres out. Scotland then scored second-half tries through Ben White, the scrum half, and Van der Merwe, whose second try, with six minutes to play, proved decisive.
?I want to win,? Borthwick said. ?We all want the England team to win ? and three quarters of the way through that game today, I thought we were going to. You have got to be hard to score against. You have got to be hard to beat.
?I can say there are areas that we want to improve on, we want to win. I said on my first day in the job, I?ve got to make sure this team delivers. I am bitterly disappointed with the result. I?m also understanding it?s a first step for us as a new team. But there were some really strong performances and it gives you things to improve on and build on.
?We wanted the Calcutta Cup and we didn?t do it and we?ve got to make sure we win next week.?
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England will update their squad today. Courtney Lawes and Henry Slade should come back into contention, having had calf and hip issues, but Dan Kelly (thigh) looks to be struggling.
The hooker Jamie George said that the senior players needed to take more responsibility for these defeats. The Scotland loss was England?s seventh Six Nations defeat in their past 11 games.
?We?re all very ambitious people,? George said. ?We?re aware that it hasn?t been good enough and especially in the autumn, it wasn?t.
?Eddie took the brunt of it in terms of losing his job. But at the same time, we were the people on the field. So we have to take accountability for it too.?