England must strike balance that fans are demanding- "its a difficult job to do"

03 February 2024 , 07:00

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England are looking to expand their gameplan to become more attacking

England must find a way of winning whilst playing a brand of rugby that engages the fans claims former international Chris Ashton.

Steve Borthwick's side begin their Six Nations campaign with a trip to Italy, a team they've never lost to, as they look to build on a semi-final berth at the World Cup back in the autumn. That run to the last four came amid some poor performances with the team's style criticised.

England have now welcomed several new faces into the squad, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Fraser Dingwall among them, which could allow them to expand their game, particularly in attack. The nation have struggled in the Six Nations as of late, winning just four of their last ten games.

Attendances at Twickenham dwindled in the summer prior to the World Cup and there is a growing demand from those watching to see England add to what has been a conservative game plan under Borthwick.

Ashton told Gambling Zone: "I think we will see England playing more attack-minded rugby at the Six Nations. Steve had a game plan to get to the semi-finals at the World Cup and then see what happens. Technically, that game plan worked. We were a penalty kick away from getting to a World Cup final, so it was an effective approach from Borthwick.

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"South Africa had no answer to England in the semi-final, apart from some unbelievable scrummages, we were all but through in that game.

He added: "We’ve had such a poor run of results at the Six Nations in previous years that Steve will be fully aware of. He will want to get the combination of playing attractive rugby that the fans want to watch and getting results which is a difficult job to do.

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"Having Italy first up is going to give England an advantage in terms of playing attractive rugby because we can get a game into the team where he can experiment to a certain extent."

England will play the two least fancied sides in the championship - Italy and Wales - first up, which allows them to build momentum heading into the more challenging games, at least on paper. Scoring tries has been a problem for England during Borthwick's tenure.

They struggled to threaten South Africa's line in the World Cup semi-final and only scored a solitary try in each of their Six Nations matches against Ireland and France last year.

Samuel Meade