Rugby: Rugby-Borthwick’s England finally deliver on promises

LONDON (Reuters) – In one thrilling, memorable afternoon at Twickenham, Steve Borthwick finally made the connection with England’s fans that he had been seeking since he took over and also cast off the idea that he is a data-driven highly conservative coach.

Borthwick’s England took the most pragmatic route to get within two minutes of reaching the World Cup final last year and though he subsequently talked about “layering on” new ways to attack, there was precious little evidence of it in the early rounds of the Six Nations.

Instead it was the blitz defence of new coach Felix Jones that came under scrutiny as Italy cut through with ease before England regained control to claim a 27-24 win that was more convincing than the scoreline suggested.

England had to come from behind again to edge past Wales 16-14 and, after a bright start against Scotland, had a disastrous afternoon when more than 20 handling errors helped Duhan van der Merwe to get a hat-trick as the Scots chalked up a fourth successive championship victory for the first time since 1896.

Amid the Murrayfield wreckage, however, were some early bright spots which Borthwick called the blueprint for England’s attack, based on bringing in George Furbank for the reliable but limited Freddie Steward and getting the injured Ollie Lawrence into the midfield.

The bookmakers were unconvinced, making England an unheard of 4-1 outsiders against Ireland at Twickenham amid talk that Borthwick would demand flyhalf George Ford delivered another controlled kicking display that worked so well at the World Cup.

Giving a first start to 21-year-old winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was a clue that perhaps Borthwick did indeed have the ambition to unleash what he kept saying he could see just beneath the surface, while a start for big-hitting lock George Martin helped to add heft to the pack.

From the start England showed a willingness to attack with ball in hand not seen for years, with Furbank, Lawrence and Feyi-Waboso to the fore and Ford standing up to the line and spreading tempting, flat passes instead of raining deep kicks on the somewhat surprised visitors.

The crowd responded, and though nobody will ever quite know how Ireland led 12-8 at halftime after barely crossing the halfway line and led again after two James Lowe tries, the fans were on their feet as Furbank and Ben Earl, a strong contender for player of the tournament, scored superb tries.

The stadium was rocking as Marcus Smith then knocked over a last-minute drop goal to complete the comeback 23-22 victory that ended Ireland’s hopes for back-to-back grand slams.

It was not so much the win, as the performance, that had fans and pundits purring, with the general consensus being that it was England’s best display since they beat New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semi-finals. “It was a statement performance for the team and the fans,” said 2003 World Cup-winning scrumhalf Matt Dawson.

Ireland’s win over Scotland on the final day meant the title was out of reach when England played France in Lyon but that was an irrelevance to the two old rivals who both had a point to prove.

France snatched the 33-31 victory with a last-minute penalty — the only one Earl conceded across the entire championship — but England produced an uplifting display in defeat.

Trailing 16-3 late in the first half they surged into a 24-16 lead with three superbly-crafted tries.

The late disappointment left devastated captain Jamie George saying it felt just like when his team were beaten at the death by South Africa in the World Cup semi-final but this was an altogether different England.

Their set piece remains strong but they scored four tries in Lyon and threatened more, after barely even seeming to think about searching for one against the Springboks.

The final table has them third, behind France and Ireland, and though three wins out of five, following three seasons of managing only two, hardly looks like a quantum leap forward, the performances in their last two games against the two strongest teams leaves them looking ahead to a summer tour to New Zealand with real belief.

(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Clare Fallon)