The RFU have no plans to relieve Steve Borthwick of his coaching duties in spite of England’s poor form, according to reports. England have failed to win any of their last four matches and fell to a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Australia on Saturday.
They will be hoping to avoid a fifth straight loss when they go up against world champions South Africa next weekend. Another disappointing result will pile even more pressure on Borthwick to turn things around and get England back to winning ways.
However, the 45-year-old will not be at risk of losing his job even if they slip to another defeat, according to The Telegraph. It is said that Borthwick retains the full backing of RFU bosses, who are unlikely to consider sacking him any time soon.
England’s senior players are also thought to be supporting Borthwick in his efforts to steady the ship. He remains tied down until 2027, having signed a five-year contract upon replacing Eddie Jones at the end of 2022.
It comes after Borthwick gave an honest assessment of England’s defeat to Australia, with Max Jorgenson’s last-gasp try handing victory to the Wallabies despite Maro Itoje scoring what he thought was the winner just moments earlier.
“It’s tremendously disappointing and gutting,” the England boss told TNT Sports. “When you make that number of errors, seven handling errors and I think there were 20 turnovers in total, you give the opportunity to the opposition to run in space and score.
“I don’t think we gave our defence the opportunity to be in the right position to go. If you give them the opportunity of turning balls over and the game gets that loose, it is very difficult to get your defence set.
“There were a number of times where tries were scored too quickly off the back of a turnover ball or a loose ball and we have to be better than that and not put ourselves in that position.”
Matt Dawson was quick to point the finger at Borthwick’s tactics after the final whistle at Twickenham, urging England to stop kicking and take a smarter approach when it comes to seeing games out.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, he said: “I can’t lose sight of what an incredible try that was under pressure for Australia. England had it!
“How many times have England had the game under their control and they go back to this dreaded box kick? It gets them in trouble every single time. For 65 minutes, England were fantastic. In the last 15 minutes, they were rubbish.”
