New England rugby coach makes shock comment
New England coach Steve Borthwick has suggested the team “weren’t good at anything” when reviews were conducted as he took over.
Borthwick recently took over from long-serving Eddie Jones – who has since moved to Australia – and his reign as the new England coach started with a dramatic 29-23 loss to Scotland in a Six Nations opener at Twickenham on Saturday.
After a limited time with the England squad, there were signs that Borthwick has a lot of work to do as he aims to turn the Red Roses into title contenders ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
“I’ve been frank from day one in saying there’s a lot of work to do,” Borthwick commented. “When I looked at the team in the autumn, when I measured the team and got all the data for the team, we weren’t good at anything. It was as frank as that.
“There are multiple areas we have tried to change. You saw some improvement in the scrum against Scotland which I was pleased about because it has been ranked as the worst scrum in tier-one (leading nations) rugby.
“We saw some improvements in the attack and speed of ball and we tried to improve the breakdown where England were ranked the ninth quickest, so one of the slowest in tier one.”
ALSO READ | SLOW-MO VIDEO: SA-BORN WING’S STUNNING SOLO SIX NATIONS TRY
Meanwhile, the 2023 Six Nations Championship got off to a scintillating start as France, Ireland and Scotland all clinched away wins over Italy, Wales and England, respectively.
ALSO READ | SA RUGBY DRAFTS ‘RELATIONS’ POLICY IN WAKE OF JANTJIES-SIMJEE SAGA
France edge Italy
France showed incredible composure as they fought to the very end to snatch a dramatic 29-24 win against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Italy came oh so close to toppling the Six Nations holders, but France’s champion mentality helped them to stay the course and see out a nail-biting five-point victory.
Italy’s early penalty try, which saw French flanker Ollivon sin-binned, brought them to within a point, and Tommaso Allan’s fourth penalty on the hour-mark saw hit the front for the first as they took a 24-22 lead on the scoreboard.
However, the impact of France’s bench told as Matthieu Jalibert popped up to score the winner with his first touch. Thomas Ramos’ conversion completed their second-half turnaround, and despite Italy looking dangerous with ball in hand all across the pitch, they couldn’t find the crucial late try to secure a famous win over Les Bleus.
Italy — Tries: Ange Capuozzo, Penalty try. Conversion: Automatic conversion. Penalties: Tommy Allan (4).
France — Tries: Thibaud Flament, Thomas Ramos, Ethan Dumortier, Matthieu Jalibert. Conversions: Ramos (3). Penalty: Ramos.
Ireland hammer Wales
Ireland ruined Warren Gatland’s welcome home party with an impressive 34-10 win against Wales at Millennium Stadium in the opening game of the 2023 Six Nations.
Andy Farrell’s side were superb from the word go, and Wales grew into the game in the second half, pushing Ireland to the limit, they just didn’t have the wherewithal to compete at the same level at the Irish.
The Six Nations Championship is only just getting started, and Wales fans have plenty to be worried about based on this game.
Wales — Tries: Williams. Conversion: Dan Biggar. Penalty: Biggar.
Ireland — Tries: Caelan Doris, James Ryan, James Lowe, Josh van der Flier. Conversions: Johnny Sexton (3), Ross Byrne. Penalties: Sexton (2).
ALSO READ: Netflix announces Six Nations behind-the-scenes documentary
Scotland stun England
Gregor Townsend’s men followed up a first win at Twickenham in 38 years in 2021 with another, this time in front of 80,000 people, as they sealed a brilliant 29-23 bonus point win at a hostile home of rugby.
Scotland made it a three-peat of Calcutta Cup successes over England as Duhan van der Merwe crossed twice in a sensational victory.
That meant defeat for Steve Borthwick in his first game in charge of England, even if Max Malins scored twice and they ran in three good tries of their own.
England — Tries: Max Malins (2), Ellis Genge. Conversion: Farrell. Penalties: Farrell (2).
Scotland — Tries: Jones, Duhan van der Merwe (2), Ben White. Conversions: Finn Russell (3). Penalty: Russell.
ENGLAND ARE FIFTH AFTER ROUND ONE:
