England desperate to lift gloom ahead of World Cup
SPOTLIGHT: England head into the World Cup arguably at their lowest ebb since the inaugural 1987 edition and with a favourable draw no longer offering much comfort.
Defeat by Fiji in their final warm-up match last weekend meant England have now lost six of their nine games under coach Steve Borthwick.
But it was the manner of England’s 22-30 reverse that was so dispiriting for their fans.
The team lacked both attacking flair and defensive solidity and suffered a first loss to a team outside of the old Five Nations or modern-day Rugby Championship.
England have now conceded 30 tries in nine games while often failing in attack.
After the Fiji game, England vice-captain Ellis Genge defiantly posted on social media: “Write us off now, all the best.”
But Matt Dawson, England’s 2003 World Cup-winning scrumhalf, was damning in his assessment of what should have been a well-drilled squad following several weeks in camp.
“It was like it was Steve Borthwick’s first game in charge and the players weren’t sure how to play together,” he told the BBC.
England face Argentina – who beat them the last time they met – in their World Cup opener in Marseille on September 9.
Borthwick will be without the suspended pair of regular captain Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola, the only specialist No.8 in his squad.
If England lose to the Pumas, they could still qualify to play a team outside the world’s top six for a place in the semifinals, thanks to a lopsided draw.
But the way Samoa, another of England’s Pool D rivals, pushed top-ranked Ireland hard in a warm-up defeat means a quarterfinal spot is by no means assured.
It was only four years ago that England reached the World Cup Final in Japan under coach Eddie Jones, only to lose to South Africa.
Six Nations woe
England scraped their way to the 2020 Six Nations title, only to finish fifth in 2021 with two wins from five – a record of results they repeated in the 2022 and 2023 Championships.
For much of that time, Jones gave the impression all would be well come the World Cup.
Jones guided his native Wallabies – who he is now in charge of again – to the 2003 final and was a consultant to the South Africa side that lifted the 2007 World Cup.
He also masterminded the tournament’s greatest upset when overseeing Japan’s shock 2015 win against the Springboks.
There was a certain logic in England’s Rugby Football Union granting their highly paid coach a contract extension through to this year’s edition.
But in sacking Jones in December, the RFU gave Borthwick a tough inheritance during a period of chaos in the English game in which three Premiership clubs – Wasps, Worcester and London Irish – all went out of business.
Former England captain Borthwick brought key staff from former club Leicester with him, including defence chief Kevin Sinfield, creating a uniformity of thinking that has yet to deliver on-field success.
When England suffered a humiliating 0-36 defeat by South Africa at the start of the 2007 World Cup in France, the players effectively ripped up the existing game plan and made it all the way to the final.
But it would be a major surprise if Borthwick’s men took a similar approach, for all the experience of Farrell and veteran forward Courtney Lawes.
Borthwick did his best to sound upbeat after the Fiji defeat.
“I’ve been involved with other England teams before that have been under pressure, in difficult circumstances and facing adversity like the challenges we’ve faced – and they’ve come apart,” he said.
“What I sense is that this is a group that is coming even tighter together.”
