Steve Borthwick’s team are in crisis after becoming the first England team to lose to Fiji – and deservedly so because the Fijians were so much sharper in thought and deed that they fully merited this historic victory at Twickenham.
England are playing not just like a team that is drowning, but one that is buried 20,000 leagues under the sea. They are ghostly shadows of the players they should be, and could not muster enough defensive intensity, cohesion, or accuracy to turn captain Courtney Lawes’ great achievement of reaching 100 caps into a celebration.
Instead, it was Fiji who were jumping for joy at the final whistle of this last World Cup warm-up international after scoring three second-half tries to leave England playing catch-up.
England’s defensive problems have become chronic, and a team with Fiji’s athleticism and flair was always likely to ruthlessly expose any shortcomings – and there was a shedload.
England fell off tackles, missing 27 in this game, and have now leaked 23 tries in six games. Afterwards head coach Borthwick commented: “Ultimately, our defence wasn’t good enough, and when they scored, they scored too easily”.
The difficulty is that this has needed fixing for the eight months Borthwick has been in charge, and it is getting worse rather than better, and defence coach Kevin Sinfield is struggling to find a solution.
This is mind-boggling considering that Borthwick has some of the most experienced players to ever pull on the Red Rose shirt in his squad, and it makes you wonder what input they have into England’s structure and strategy.
Denne historien er fra August 27, 2023-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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Denne historien er fra August 27, 2023-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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