About an hour after the final whistle on Saturday, England’s victorious players still swigging from the Calcutta Cup, Steve Borthwick was deep inside Twickenham discussing how his players finally got their hands back on the trophy. He was justifying their route-one tactics, explaining why England showcased so little with ball in hand; essentially, why they seemed to revert to a tactical approach that wins matches but few admirers.
Borthwick was asked a perfectly reasonable question – was it the coaches’ decision to do so or the players adapting on the hoof in response to Scotland’s gameplan? – and he did not answer it properly. He was bristling, looking for hidden meaning in the question that just wasn’t there. He was asked it again and once more failed to provide an answer. Make no mistake, Borthwick cares a great deal about how his team are perceived. The boos sting, the derogatory implications of “Borthball” bother him.
