England are jetting out to the Costa Brava this coming week but winter sun is only a small part of the package. While Steve Borthwick wants his players to spend some time relaxing away from their well-appointed training base of Girona, currently top of La Liga, he is also keen to ensure they are good and ready for the specific demands of a modern Six Nations Championship.
Borthwick, as he loves doing, has been digging into the stats and, before a ball is box-kicked, reckons he knows where the championship will be won and lost. Spoiler alert: it will not be all about flowing back play or individual wizardry. According to England’s head coach, the key areas will be the breakdown and the scrum, mirroring the knockout stages of the recent World Cup.
