Steve Borthwick is confident he has the backing of the Rugby Football Union after England were plunged into crisis by collapsing to a historic defeat to Italy.
England surrendered a 18-10 lead in the third quarter to fall 23-18 at the Stadio Olimpico, registering a third consecutive loss in a Six Nations that concludes against title-chasing France in Paris on Saturday.
It was the first time in 33 encounters they had been beaten by Italy and they are facing the prospect of finishing the tournament with just one win – an all-time low.
Former England wing Ugo Monye reacted to the calamity in Rome by declaring the conversation about Borthwick’s future “has to start now”, adding “the potential of the players is being met by the vision of the coach”.
However, embattled boss Borthwick is convinced he should remain in charge of the national side, replying “absolutely” when asked if he remains the right man for the job.
“The RFU, myself, Conor O’Shea (director of performance rugby) and Bill Sweeney (chief executive) speak regularly and discuss the vision of the team going forward,” Borthwick said.
“We know the team have accelerated its development over the last 12 months and also understanding that right now in this Six Nations there are going to be some tough challenges ahead and clearly we have not got results in those challenges we have wanted.
“The team’s growth in the last 12 months has been very, very strong and you can see the vision of where the team is going to be and you see the players coming through.
“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. We are not where we want to be in terms of results and in terms of performances.”
England’s slump has been spectacular after they opened the Six Nations with a resounding triumph over Wales that clinched a 12th successive victory. Now they sit fifth in the table with only winless Wales beneath them.
“Firstly, I’d thank the supporters, as I always do, for what they give to the team. The second is that I’d recognise that they’re hurting like we’re hurting,” Borthwick said.
“We feel it. We really, really do. We’re not shying away from that fact. These are not the performances and results that we wanted to give our supporters.
“Over the last period of time, we’ve brought the supporters on a journey with us. I think we’ve played the type of rugby that we want to play.
“Just look at the try scoring we’ve done over the last 12 months and the way we’ve tried to play. It’s been very good.
“Unfortunately, right now, those tries aren’t flowing the way we want them to be. We aren’t getting across the try line anywhere near as regularly as we were or as often as we want.
“There’s a couple of factors within that. One of them is certainly the contact area, which is certainly really, really hard fought right now.
“We’ll make sure that we’re going to improve upon that ahead of playing against France next week.”
PA
