It was a subtle shift in tone that showed that Steve Borthwick knows that the goodwill is gone for his England rugby side. Across three tight defeats to All Blacks, the England head coach had pleaded for patience from supporters, chewing on the gristle of fine margins and 50/50 calls and insisting that his team would take those ever nebulous “learnings”.
But on Saturday night, after the most damaging defeat yet to an Australian side which had begun November tenth in the world rankings and won just once in the Rugby Championship, Borthwick’s language changed. “I don’t want to be stood here on the back of a loss saying we’ll learn, because we want to win games and are desperate to win games,” he said, the encouraged coach of a week ago replaced by a frustrated figure.
