England vice-captain Jamie George has insisted that Steve Borthwick is the “perfect person” to turn the side into contenders for next year’s Rugby World Cup despite enduring a worst-ever Six Nations campaign.
An epic performance against France in Paris threatened to salvage a second success of the campaign for England only for Thomas Ramos to strike with a last-minute penalty, condemning the visitors to a four-defeat campaign.
It is the first time that England have endured that ignominy, putting pressure on head coach Borthwick despite entering this tournament on a long series of wins.
With world champions South Africa next up in Johannesburg in July, a four-match losing run could yet extend further and Borthwick will face a tough review process in the next few weeks.
But George believes the performance in Paris showed both the faith that the squad had in their coach, and what the team are capable of.
“Steve is one of the best coaches I’ve ever worked under,” George stressed. “Under Steve, I think we will be right up there with the favourites to win the World Cup in 2027. We’re a great team, a great group of players and he’s the perfect person to take us there.
“I think he has been unbelievable for English rugby, I think it’s crazy what has been happening over the last few weeks and he is absolutely the right man to lead us forward for a long time. He’s an English coach who cares so much about this game but he’s also a very, very good coach who has created an excellent programme.
“When you combine that with a good group of players it’s a recipe for success. It hasn’t been where it has needed to be over the last few weeks, the excellent thing about Steve is that we will have answers, we will have clarity to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
A 48-46 defeat at the Stade de France provided a fittingly mad finale to an unpredictable campaign, with England pipped at the last by a nerveless Ramos.
The attacking ambition and accuracy England showed seemed to somewhat contrast with what they had produced in the three weeks prior, and George admitted that the side had not been good enough in this tournament.
“I think that we should be proud of that performance, but I am not shying away from the fact that one in five is not good enough,” he said. “That is not good enough for an England team that have got a huge amount of talent. The players need to take responsibility for that. Because what we put out on the field in a couple of games in particular wasn't good enough. Look, tonight we threw everything at it. We played against a very good France team, and on another day we might have won that game.
“We didn't get results and it's a results based business. And we are very, very frustrated with that. But I am hoping that we've given a lot of England fans a smile on their faces today, which is ultimately what it's all about, and put a lot of pride back into the shirt. I think that there should be a huge amount of excitement leading into the summer. It's a pretty big test next up. But hopefully a couple of English teams are going to do pretty well in this Champions Cup, finish the season strong. And then we lead into South Africa, which will be a huge test for us.”
England also face Fiji and Argentina in the new Nations Championship in July.
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