Borthwick backed by RFU despite ‘hugely disappointing’ run of defeats

Steve Borthwick’s boss has given the England coach his backing, but says there will be a full examination of the woeful Six Nations campaign after the team’s final-round match against France on Saturday.

England are fifth in the table and well out of the title running after successive defeats by Scotland, Ireland and Italy – which was the first loss to the Azzurri – ruined their ambitions and prompted questions over Borthwick’s future.

“Steve and his coaching team are working tirelessly to make improvements, and we remain fully committed to supporting them and the players as they face France this weekend and then look ahead to the Nations Championship.

“Part of that support is being open about what hasn’t gone right during this Six Nations and making sure everyone has a clear sense of how we move through those challenges together.

“That’s something we’ll be talking through and working on in the days and weeks ahead.

“We will work together to understand and rectify why we have been unable to meet the expectations and anticipation going into these games.

Borthwick defended his record and the direction of the team after Italy, who had lost their previous 32 games against England, ran out 23-18 winners in Rome.

“Absolutely,” replied the 46-year-old when asked if he was the right man for the job.

“Right now this is a tough period, but what we will do is learn from it and make sure we are stronger going forward.

“It is tough right now and we are not hiding away from the fact it is tough.”

Captain Maro Itoje, whom Borthwick appointed at the start of 2025 to lead the team, insisted that England’s nosediving form came down to him and his fellow players, rather than the coaches.

“The coaches set us up to do well,” he told BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

Borthwick was appointed in December 2022 after turning around Leicester Tigers, taking them from the bottom of the Premiership to champions in the space of two seasons.

Despite having less than a year to prepare for the 2023 World Cup, he guided England to within touching distance of the final, with eventual winners South Africa fighting back from nine points down to win a thrilling semi-final.

As Borthwick attempted to expand England’s style, they went through a frustrating second half of 2024 with five successive and narrow defeats against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

He appeared to have found the balance between tactics and results in 2025, when England swept to 11 straight wins before this year’s Six Nations revived doubts.

Realistically the RFU was unlikely to do anything but back the regime with one game still to play in the Six Nations.

However, those at the top of English rugby are at the moment not minded to sack Borthwick. If they were, they could have kept quiet and let speculation build this week.

But while this statement is designed to quell the noise around Borthwick’s position, the questions about the short-, medium- and long-term direction of travel still remain.

England are in a hole. Despite all the talk after the Ireland game about taking their chances and building scoreboard pressure, the side look bereft of confidence with the ball, they are panicking in defence and losing discipline, and the reversion to the kicking game as the default option has made them predictable and easy to play against.

That lack of confidence is mirrored in the coaching box, with Borthwick reluctant to trust his replacements in Rome, despite how well the bench did for him in the autumn.

The RFU has promised an open inquest into what has gone wrong and, regardless of what happens in Paris – and a victory appears fanciful – this needs to be forensic.

Is the leadership group strong enough? Is Borthwick setting his team up well enough? Are his assistant coaches delivering? And, crucially, do the players still believe in the management?

Even if Borthwick is backed to lead England through to the World Cup in 2027, he needs to mend a team that look broken.

In the summer of 2023 and the autumn of 2024, Borthwick was under the pump but managed to turn it around.