05 February 2023 , 23:36
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Steve Borthwick reacted to Calcutta Cup heartbreak by revealing the scale of the rebuilding job he inherited from Eddie Jones..
England’s new head coach left Twickenham upset at coming up short in his first match in charge but in no mood to put it all on himself.
“When I looked at the team in the autumn, when I measured the team and got all the data for the team, we weren’t good at anything,” he said. “It was as frank as that.
“I am bitterly disappointed with the result. I’m also understanding it’s a first step for us as a new team.”
England blew a 20-12 lead in the last half hour despite four-try Scotland spending just 104 seconds in their 22 all match.
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They dominated possession and territory yet the Scots completed a hat-trick of wins over the auld enemy for the first time in half a century.
Max Malins scores second of his two tries before Scotland came back to win (The RFU Collection via Getty Ima)The thought of Duhan van der Merwe breaking five tackles to score the try of the match will haunt England in their dreams.
“You have got to be hard to score against, you have to be harder to beat,” conceded Borthwick, before returning to his lengthy to-do list.
“We have tried to improve the breakdown where I think England were ranked ninth quickest - so one of the slowest in tier one,” he said.
Borthwick: “I’ve got to get the players to believe, to play to the best of themselves" (Getty Images)“We saw some improvements in the attack and speed of ball but we need to build on our scrum, maul, running game, multiple things.
“I’ve got to get the players to believe, to play to the best of themselves, which I don’t think we have seen them do for a while.”
As appraisals go, this is pretty damning of where the Eddie Jones regime ended up. Mend all that in just 11 days was always a tall order.
Marcus Smith occupies Scotland defence during Saturday's clash (Getty Images)His critics will say Sean Dyche inspired Everton to beat Arsenal after five days on the training pitches at Finch Farm.
They are, however, two very different sports, as Warren Gatland, well beaten on his Wales return, would doubtless point out - and Borthwick did.
“If you look at the nature and complexity of the game of rugby compared to football you can see there are multiple facets you need to put in place,” he said. “You need to build combinations and cohesion together.”
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Owen Farrell's 10-12 partnership with Marcus Smith has again come under scrutiny (Alastair Grant/AP/REX/Shutterstock)One combination under immediate scrutiny is the Marcus Smith-Owen Farrell axis.
There were moments it bore fruit, like the build-up to both Max Malins tries. And with England’s defence allowing six line breaks and missing one tackle in every five it might not appear a priority.
But World Cup winner Matt Dawson is not alone in questioning the wisdom of retaining Jones’ 10-12 set-up.
Duhan van der Merwe rampages towards try line for first of his two tries (Getty Images)“I cannot see how that midfield is going to be a good enough threat to compete at the highest level going forward,” he told the BBC.
“When you are a fly-half playing at that sort of intensity, you want other people to be crashing it up and making the carries to create the space for your next wave of attack, which will include you.
“Unfortunately that is not in Farrell's skillset as a 12.”
More food for thought for Borthwick as he turns his attention to Sunday's Italian job.
ENGLAND - Tries: Malins 2, Genge. Con: Farrell. Pens: Farrell 2.
SCOTLAND - Tries: H Jones, Van der Merwe 2, White. Cons: Russell 3. Pen: Russell.