Tom Willis makes mockery of England omission as Saracens bludgeon Bulls Sport Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall urged England to take note after No8 Tom Willis burnished his growing reputation with a man-of-the-match display in Saturday’s 27-5 Investec Champions Cup win over the Bulls. Willis was surprisingly omitted from Steve Borthwick’s 36-man England squad for last month’s Autumn Nations Series but made a mockery of that [...]
Borthwick vows to push on after England end losing run Sport Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie scored two apiece in a resounding nine-try win.
Cheer up England rugby fans, you could support Wales Sport England may be on a bad run, but Wales are looking as if they’re looking into a deep abyss. Ollie Phillips writes that sacking Gatland, however, is not the answer. You’ve got to go back to 1973 to find an England rugby team who lost four home matches on the bounce. Steve Borthwick’s team have [...]
Itoje calls playing for England ‘Mecca’ amid LIV-style breakaway plans November 18, 2024 England international Maro Itoje has said that playing for his country is the “Mecca” amid reports that a LIV Golf-style breakaway league could draw players away from representing the Red Rose. The plan is said to be backed by US investors and could recruit 200 of rugby’s top players for a 2026 launch. The Rugby [...]
Fortress Twickenham breached: England in a dark, dark place November 18, 2024 England’s 29-20 loss to South Africa was their fifth defeat on the bounce. Fortress Twickenham has been breached and Eddie Jones is up next for Steve Borthwick. If deep-pocketed disruptors really were to tempt more than 100 players away from their clubs to form a LIV Golf-style rugby competition as mooted last week, they’d be [...]
Time for England’s wilting roses to blossom against Boks November 15, 2024 When penning this column the niggling thought in my mind is that there’s no possible way that England beat the Springboks. Steve Borthwick’s wilting roses are struggling across the board, and shipped a record points total against a southern hemisphere side at home under his tenure in last week’s loss to Australia. Meanwhile South Africa, [...]
Is Borthwick’s England tenure reaching a critical point? November 10, 2024 When Max Jorgensen crossed the tryline for Australia on Saturday, it condemned Steve Borthwick’s England to a defeat in which they shipped over 40 points at home. The 37-42 loss to the Wallabies is tied second for the most points the hosts have ever conceded at Allianz Stadium. While it fell short of the 53 [...]
No surprises England squad wastes precious opportunity October 18, 2024 It is very sensible, that England squad, isn’t it? There are no thrills or spills, no rogue actors or dazzling potential debutant. It is very Steve Borthwick. And that is no bad thing. This 36-man training squad will be tasked with taking on the southern hemisphere’s big three nations in New Zealand, Australia and South [...]
Why is Borthwick playing it safe for England’s historic Test match in Japan? June 21, 2024 England should beat Japan but at a time when the All Blacks are looming there seems to be little adventure.