Is Borthwick's job dependent on a strong Six Nations? And what is par for this squad when that tournament comes around?
I don't think Steve Borthwick’s job is dependent on having a successful Six Nations with England.
The RFU have committed to Borthwick for a four-year cycle, so this will be Steve’s team until after the 2027 World Cup. I think that’s the right decision – the RFU need to have the confidence and conviction that Steve is the right man for the job. If they were to make changes now, it resets everything and puts it back a few years.
I think what Steve's done, he's picked young players, exciting players. There is a clear understanding on how they're trying to play the game.
They went toe-to-toe with the All Blacks. They pushed Australia really hard, and they gave South Africa a good game.
This is a competitive team that ultimately has come out on the wrong side of the results. A win would have alleviated a whole lot of pressure and strain from a media and fan's perspective. That’s how quickly these things can swing.
Ultimately, wins are what people are looking for, not looking to build for four year’s time. Everyone will sit here for the next World Cup, and they'll celebrate and ultimately forget
the autumn games if we’re successful.
I think perspective is a great thing but, ultimately, it's a results driven business and people want results.
So, what is par for when the Six Nations comes around? They've got to win their home games. Twickenham has got to be a place where they win. They've got all the Blues: Scotland, Italy and France.
They’ve got a huge opportunity also playing Ireland first up. That's the opportunity to catch them cold before they've had time to build into the tournament.
The way England started against New Zealand, they've got an understanding of the intensity they need to get to, and I think they could go there and do it. Like I said, that can shift people's attitudes towards the team and could have a massive impact in terms of the fans really getting behind them.
Are England in danger of becoming flat track bullies? They beat the teams below them, but can't get over the line against the top teams.
Are England flat-track bullies, I'd say no. Again, you've got horses for courses.
I think against Japan, they bullied them in a good manner.
You've alluded to both the hookers – Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie – scoring a couple of tries against Japan. I like to see teams that find something that works, that damages or hurts the opposition, and then hammer it home until they change. If they can't handle it, why would you stop?
I think being flat track, ultimately, it's a poorly worded question because if George Ford's kick goes over, Maro catches a restart, they've won two of those games against some of the biggest teams in the world and we're not having that conversation.
Who was the breakout star of the Autumn series for England?
The breakout star for me, and I don't think he was breakout, but he really solidified himself as your form 10. I'm talking about Marcus Smith. He is the guy.He was, I suppose, a shining light in many ways, and I like the conviction in just picking him. I'd like to have seen Fin Smith get time as well, but I think a team needs continuity in fly-half especially. 9 and 10 you need continuity.
They're really the heartbeat of the side and I thought Marcus was more than a heartbeat. He gave, you know, he inspired, he led. I think for him to get a run of games, it kind of answers that question that he is the guy. I'm sure Fin Smith's waiting in the wings for his opportunity as well.
England have ended their five-match losing streak with a big win against Japan, how significant will this prove to be for their last match of 2024, as they look to carry this momentum ahead to the 2025 Six Nations.
Regarding Japan, they had to win. They had to score 50-odd points. It was always going to happen.
Japan were out-muscled. England showed glimpses of fine attacking play, which we know that they've got, but ultimately, we out-muscled them and found a set piece that was really dominant.
I think, again, just mentally to finish the series with a win, it's pretty dark when you lose a game. You've got a seven-day turnaround and then you lose two games, and its 14, three and its 21. It’s good to finish on a high after three defeats and for some of the things that we’ve been working on to come to fruition. They did the job that was asked of them, and they couldn’t do anymore.
Both Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie crossed over for two tries each against Japan, from a hooker’s perspective, how impressive was England’s set-piece to see four tries for the hookers.
It was great to see Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie score a couple of tries against Japan. It’s appropriate rugby. Playing the conditions, identifying a weakness in the opposition and finding something that is going to exploit that ands really going for it.
I think that one of the strengths of Borthwick and his coaching team is that they are very analytical.
It’s all about finding the weakness in your opponent and the best way to exploit it. That comes with analysis and preparation, having the tools up your sleeve and England went and executed really well.
For a purist, it was beautiful to see the big boys dotting down because we all want to see expansive rugby, but ultimately winning rugby isn't always expansive.
It's good to see that England have that up their sleeve and that they have the conviction to come away with points within those areas because I think it was almost a failure of theirs in a couple of the earlier games where we had those opportunities, and we didn’t come away with anything.
We saw the England debut of Asher Opoku-Fordjour against Japan, what are your thoughts on the young Sale prop?
Regarding Asher Opoku-Fordjour, it’s good. Manny Iyogun is another young kid coming through at Northampton, Fin Baxter has been getting a few games.
There’s a conveyor belt of good young talent coming through. It’s promising to know that we've got good young athletic props coming through, and these are the games where you build your depth, your experience and your options as a coach. These are the positions that are often beset by an injury crisis, and as much as we love Joe Marler, we don't want to be going back to Joe saying come back for a game.
You have to replenish from the bottom. For a season or so he's been lurking in the Premiership doing some good things, so it’s really promising.
I think it's just the age-old conversation around English depth. We've got it, but I also think that it’s probably one of the things that holds us back.
If you look at Wales or Ireland, certainly the All Blacks, you could name their starting 15 for years, and you probably had a pretty good idea who was in their second 15. England have got so much depth and so many good players. We often don't build continuity in selection, and I often think it's to the detriment of the team.
I look at Wales in their golden era, you could have named that starting 15 with your eyes shut, but as soon as there's a few injuries, they didn't quite have the depth to replenish.
It depends how you look at it. I think it's a really good thing that we've got the depth but equally you don't want to play without too much continuity in selection.
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