England know how to win under Borthwick – now to handle great expectations | Gerard Meagher
After 11 successive victories, England will go into next year’s Six Nations as the team to beatA Six Nations grand slam, plus Nations Championship victories against South Africa and Fiji and England would head to Argentina next July having equalled their record run of 18 wins, in pursuit of a ground-breaking No 19,Sounds simple put like that, but there’s more chance of Steve Borthwick busting his best moves in England’s next viral TikTok video than him entertaining any thought of record runs,That is not to criticise, because even though Borthwick is allergic to looking too far ahead, doing so would be to get drastically carried away,The point here is that the more England keep winning, and they will enter the Six Nations next year as the team to beat after 11 on the trot, the more expectation increases,We got a glimpse of it just before half-time against Argentina.
England were 17-3 ahead having barely got out of second gear when George Ford opted to kick a penalty at goal,He missed and when presented with an easier shot a minute later he was instructed to kick to the corner,It was Luke Cowan-Dickie who implored him to do so – the hooker scoring a disallowed try from the subsequent lineout – but it was apparently a decision based on the need to inject some urgency into England’s performance and to bring a sleepy Sunday crowd to life,In 2026, England will soon learn that 14-point leads against teams as dangerous as Argentina are not enough to engage their supporters if they are not playing with the intent they have shown they can,Perhaps the nervous finale against the Pumas tempers expectation a touch, and makes clear that the gulf between England and the Springboks is still sizeable, although South Africa endured a similar finish against Argentina in October.
But England have not won a Six Nations title since the Covid-interrupted 2020 edition; it has been a while since they were even genuine contenders,Borthwick doesn’t think in terms of expectations, or if he does he certainly doesn’t show it,At the halfway point of the World Cup cycle England are precisely where he would want them to be, if not further ahead,The greatest strides have been in increasing depth – bringing Tom Curry off the bench with 20 minutes to go strikes fear into opponents whereas, with the greatest respect, introducing Alex Dombrandt did not,Borthwick has used 53 players in 2025 but he did not hand out any debuts in November – the first time England have not done so since 2000 – demonstrating how important he considered this campaign to be in the side’s development.
The scrum has consistently improved this year and the importance of the summer tour of Argentina cannot be underestimated in fast‑tracking the development of Joe Heyes, Fin Baxter and Asher Opoku-Fordjour.That in turn has allowed Borthwick to formulate his “Pom Squad” which has helped England to close out matches they were all too often losing last year.The decision to make Maro Itoje captain has paid off while the coaching chaos of 2024, when Aled Walters and Felix Jones abandoned ship, has been consigned to history.Lee Blackett is a highly popular and talented attack coach and he has made his mark, as seen with the set play for Fraser Dingwall’s try against the All Blacks.Byron McGuigan is a motivator and dovetails well with Richard Wigglesworth, whose move to defence coach has been seamless.
Perhaps most importantly, Borthwick finally got his man in Phil Morrow, an experienced strength and conditioning coach, who joined as head of team performance before the Argentina tour four months ago.There were no signs of post‑British & Irish Lions tour fatigue this autumn – the decision to ease most back into the fray off the bench proving a masterstroke – and if Morrow can continue in the same vein in the Six Nations he will earn his crust.There are challenges ahead.Dealing with the expectation is chief among them but so too is how England cope when they are not able to impose plan A on opponents for 80 minutes.They were rarely tested in that regard this autumn, but can expect to be during the Six Nations, with trips to Edinburgh and Paris coming after the opening visit of Wales.
Sign up to The BreakdownThe latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewedafter newsletter promotionIf Borthwick appears to know the vast majority of his World Cup squad already – barring the odd bolter – he has a job on his hands keeping everyone happy.He has repeatedly stressed the importance of the non-23 players this autumn, praising their attitude, but at the same time admitted the challenge of managing someone like Marcus Smith, whose role has been diminished over the last 12 months.Of his three fly-halves it is Fin Smith who finds himself out in the cold.To refer back to Borthwick’s coaching staff, it is Kevin Sinfield who takes on the pastoral role for the squad and his input in the coming year will be crucial.In the coming days Borthwick plans to decompress before plotting England’s Six Nations campaign, starting with a warm-up camp in Girona.
To look beyond that is to get ahead of ourselves but the July trip to Johannesburg to face the Springboks at Ellis Park already looks mouthwatering.Borthwick does not like to put a label on England’s current standing in the global landscape but he gave one in the aftermath of the win on Sunday that felt telling.“The top level of Test rugby now, it feels like anybody can...
I think South Africa are the No 1 in the world, doing wonderfully well.Everybody else, it feels like everybody can...the Test matches are all super-tight.
You look at those games [on Saturday] and whilst some scorelines end up blowing up, at 60 minutes they’re still really, really tight.That’s the nature of Test match rugby now.”The Springboks remain out in front but, while Borthwick would not admit it, England are leading the chasing pack.
Travis Head’s devastating knock gives Australia’s selectors a dilemma
Accidents do not come much happier. Usman Khawaja’s mid-game back problem was annoying for the player and potentially damaging for his team, until it wasn’t. Clearing out the regular dry-powder opener created space in the final stanza of the Perth Test, allowing Travis Head to finish off England with the gory certainty and splatter count of a Mortal Kombat fatality move. Sometimes you mash the buttons and it all just works.Consider an Ashes innings of 123 from 83 balls, on a bouncy pitch where two other players nudged 50, in an effort that did not just win the match, but has sent the opposition into a demoralising tailspin
England asked for CCTV footage of Tom Curry’s alleged tunnel scuffle
England have been told to provide CCTV footage of the alleged tunnel bust-up between Tom Curry and Felipe Contepomi after Argentina lodged a formal complaint and demanded an investigation into the incident.It is understood that Six Nations Rugby – which organises the autumn Tests – has asked for England to provide footage as well as a formal statement before deciding whether to begin disciplinary proceedings. The Rugby Football Union is also expected to provide any other relevant video captured of the incident.In an extraordinary press conference after England’s 27-23 victory on Sunday, Contepomi described Curry as a “bully” and accused the flanker of shoving him in the tunnel and telling him to “fuck off”. Contepomi also claimed Curry had “broken” the knee of Juan Cruz Mallía with a “reckless” tackle in the 75th minute – the incident that sparked the post-match bad blood
England know how to win under Borthwick – now to handle great expectations | Gerard Meagher
After 11 successive victories, England will go into next year’s Six Nations as the team to beatA Six Nations grand slam, plus Nations Championship victories against South Africa and Fiji and England would head to Argentina next July having equalled their record run of 18 wins, in pursuit of a ground-breaking No 19. Sounds simple put like that, but there’s more chance of Steve Borthwick busting his best moves in England’s next viral TikTok video than him entertaining any thought of record runs.That is not to criticise, because even though Borthwick is allergic to looking too far ahead, doing so would be to get drastically carried away. The point here is that the more England keep winning, and they will enter the Six Nations next year as the team to beat after 11 on the trot, the more expectation increases.We got a glimpse of it just before half-time against Argentina
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After many months of campaigning, an unprecedented “strike” when racing relocated to London to make its voice heard and an intervention by a former prime minister, no less, the UK’s second-biggest spectator sport will soon discover whether its concerted, and impressively united, effort to avert a tax hike on racing bets, has paid off. With all due respect to the competitors at Wetherby, Market Rasen and Southwell on Wednesday, the main event for racing will be the 12.30 at Westminster, as Rachel Reeves rises to deliver her much-anticipated budget speech.The only result that can be ruled out with confidence is that gambling duties will be left untouched. There is a gaping black hole to be filled in the public finances and the UK’s gambling industry, which had a Gross Gambling Yield (total stakes minus total payouts) of £15
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As misjudgments go, McLaren’s error in calculations that led to the disqualification of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Sunday could barely have been more cataclysmic nor more poorly timed. Quite how they got it wrong just when they wanted to close out the drivers’ championship with as little fuss as possible will take no little explanation.Norris and Piastri, second and fourth respectively to Max Verstappen’s win in Nevada, had been solid enough results until the FIA discovered the skid blocks on their cars had been worn beyond the 9mm limit. In one fell swoop, Verstappen was right back in the fight, alongside Piastri, 24 points back from Norris.It is exactly the sort of proximity to set nerves jangling unnecessarily with two meetings remaining and 58 points up for grabs
England batters opt out of pink-ball warm-up match despite first Ashes Test failures
To hell with the optics was the message from England on Monday after confirmation that none of the players who collapsed to the shattering two-day defeat in the first Ashes Test will change tack and travel to Canberra.In a move that risks drawing further ire, only Jacob Bethell, Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts – all unused in Perth – will join the Lions at Manuka Oval, where Andrew Flintoff’s shadow touring party will take on a Prime Minister’s XI in a two-day floodlit fixture that starts on Saturday.Cricket Australia originally slated the fixture for England’s first team as a warm-up for the day-night second Test that starts in Brisbane on 4 December, only to be informed a number of weeks ago that the Lions would be taking their place instead. It was felt the ground’s slow pitch would not prepare the players adequately before the traditional bounce of the Gabba.Although the head coach, Brendon McCullum, did then offer individuals the chance to divert to Canberra after the defeat in Perth, only three fringe players took up the offer
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