Steve Borthwick's England 'aren't that far away' from Springboks' pedigree?
SPOTLIGHT: Jamie George insists England’s slump in the Six Nations Championship is a temporary affair, with the hooker confident the side will bounce back away to Italy.
England were on a 12-Test winning run until consecutive defeats by Scotland and Ireland scuppered their Championship title hopes.
Last week’s 21-42 loss to Ireland at Twickenham was particularly woeful and made a match against Italy – who’ve yet to beat England – in Rome on March 7 a hugely significant affair for Steve Borthwick’s men.
Ireland surged into a 22-0 lead in barely half an hour, with Scotland 17-0 ahead after just 16 minutes at Murrayfield.
Nevertheless, George said: “We certainly aren’t a bad team overnight. We aren’t that far away from it. There was a snowball effect in both games because of the way we started.
“Outside of that, we’ve got really good players, we’ve got a great plan and great coaches. I’ve got no doubt we’ll be back to where we need to be against Italy in two weeks’ time.”
The former England captain added: “The results have not been good enough. Those last two games have been poor. To be beaten as comprehensively as we have is disappointing.
“Everything is explainable, and there are probably a sequence of errors and an inability to keep our own ball, and then that becomes really hard.
“If you are many points down and looking to score tries and not able to keep hold of the ball, then that becomes really difficult.
“To concede 40 points at home is inexcusable as well. There is a fair bit to fix, but at the same time we feel very confident that we aren’t miles away.”
England will finish their Six Nations campaign with fixtures on the road against Italy and France before they face the Springboks in the Nations Championship opener on July 4.
After last weekend’s defeat, England have dropped further behind in the rankings (fifth). The gap between them and the Boks is now 8.32 points.
