‘Murrayfield pain will make England a better team’

I can easily reel off the losses that stuck with me in the Six Nations, as they can take you to a really dark place at times.

Scotland 2000, Ireland 2001 and France 2002 – they all still hurt.

I was involved in all those campaigns and came up short of a Grand Slam by one victory three consecutive times.

It is important now to take stock and remember that defeat will happen again at some point before the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

England will lick their wounds after yet another crushing defeat by Scotland, but even if a potential Grand Slam has gone, they still have a championship to play for.

The chance to win a Grand Slam does not come around very often, and that is the reality.

Last week I said it would be foolish to draw a straight line from the opening weekend to a Grand Slam decider in Paris.

This tournament is magical for exactly that reason.

Two wins and England will be in a position to go to Paris and perhaps try to win the championship.

There is plenty to focus on and be excited about, and that Murrayfield pain will make England a better team.

Big away wins are not easy in the Six Nations, and Saturday is another one that eluded Steve Borthwick.

It is not just about winning on another pitch as the World Cup is on neutral soil in Australia.

It is about the different feeling outside the Twickenham environment and home comforts.

As impressive as the 12-game winning run was, England still need that South African mentality – wherever you go in the world, you are expected to win and be globally successful.

Borthwick is still yet to travel to Scotland, Ireland or France in the Six Nations and win.

Most adversity comes from playing away from home, and Saturday gave the England players more of those scenarios.

There is a lot happening in these high-pressure games, and for high-paced players it is happening more quickly both physically and mentally.

Unfortunately for Henry Arundell, who was being ultra-competitive, you have to read situations like the one when he took out Kyle Steyn in the air.

England found themselves in a position where they were not playing well and were losing the scraps.

In those situations, you need clarity as well as competitiveness, and a red card obviously does not help to swing the momentum back.

That decision has cost England dearly and, given how competitive that wing slot is, I am sure Borthwick is going to have to manage that scenario.

Henry is a 23-year-old and will, of course, bounce back, but it was reckless and a poor decision.

What if that had been a championship decider or a World Cup knockout game?

England will be licking their lips at the opportunity to bounce back against Ireland on Saturday.

We know England can perform with the comfort of home support, so it is not about putting things right – that will come in games in Rome and Paris.

It is about building on what they did prior to the Scotland game. Sometimes you have to park a game, write it off and move on.

I thought I had seen England drift away from the kick-heavy style and strategy.

Scotland put on an attacking masterclass, whereas when England did attack it felt like they were punching for their lives but not actually landing anything.

They lacked shape, going left and right without making any progress – like a boxer on the ropes punching for their life but not actually hitting anything.

George Ford’s failed drop-goal felt like a last-ditch option, which then resulted in what Borthwick described as a 10-point swing.

I do not think you can blame Ford, the sequence was not set up properly and it felt like tired minds all over the place.

Two years ago there was plenty of talk that Ireland were going to beat England by 30 points at Twickenham.

It was such a mismatch in terms of where both sides were in their development.

Marcus Smith’s late drop-goal denied Ireland a potential Grand Slam, and that was a huge moment in Borthwick’s tenure.

Now England come in as favourites – it is amazing how quickly the landscape changes.

Having lost badly against France and nearly drawn against Italy, Ireland will be annoyed that everyone is writing them off.

They are a well-motivated team under Andy Farrell and are very well drilled.

Ireland will come out and probably play their best game of the campaign.

Scotland, in the space of a week, turned their disappointing loss in Rome into a convincing display against England.

That is how quickly things can change.