After a second narrow defeat in a row to New Zealand this summer, England captain Jamie George gathered his crestfallen team-mates in the middle of the Eden Park pitch.
“Listen, I know you’re going to be heartbroken at that,” he said. “I know I am. I’m gutted. We are so close to doing something special. So enjoy your break, get away, have a good time. We get back together in November and we play these guys again first up. Let’s make sure we have that in the back of our minds all summer.”
It has been a turbulent time for England since then, as head coach Steve Borthwick has had to cope with upheaval in his backroom staff. In the space of a few days in August, strength and conditioning coach
Aled Walters left to join Ireland and defence coach Felix Jones resigned after just seven months in the role.
Borthwick has defended the coaching environment, insisting he had a number of “high-quality CVs” to sift through as he found replacements for Jones and Walters. The end result is that Joe El-Abd has joined as the new defence coach and Dan Tobin has arrived as a strength and conditioning coach.
England, however, suffered frustration in their pursuit of Phil Morrow, the Saracens general manager and performance director, who had been earmarked to replace Walters and head up the strength and conditioning department. Saracens would only let Morrow go if he shared the role — but seven Premiership clubs rejected that plan, citing concerns over a conflict of interest.
Borthwick remains confident a resolution can be found in the new year, but right now his focus is on a pivotal Autumn Nations Series.
‘Finish the job’
After New Zealand this weekend, England then welcome Australia, South Africa and Japan to Twickenham. Two close defeats during their summer tour to New Zealand suggested England are on the right path, but it is hard to escape the feeling that Borthwick needs at least one statement victory this autumn.
England beat Ireland 23-22 at Twickenham in March, but other than that they have not defeated a side this year who are above them in the world rankings. They have won four out of eight Tests this year.
“We all want the wins,” said Borthwick. “In each of those games we have been winning at some stage in the fourth quarter. That is key: make sure the team continue the good work of getting themselves in a position to win and then finish the job. As this team develops and matures, then I think we will understand closing those games.”
Borthwick has opted for continuity in the squad he has named for this autumn after the progress made in New Zealand. The one blow is that Alex Mitchell is out with a neck injury. The scrum-half has started seven of England’s eight Tests this year. Ben Spencer gets the nod to start against the All Blacks, with Harry Randall on the bench, and they at least come into a settled backline. Borthwick has chosen to blood young players, such as 21-year-old wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, at the same time so they build a connection.
“If you look at the back-three that’s played a lot of games recently together — Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Manny Feyi-Waboso — they don’t have a lot of caps in total,” he said. “But they have their caps together and that is really important. I see the continuity building relationships. Sometimes it takes players some time in an England shirt. Some jump in straight away and it feels like they’ve always been there, but the key thing is playing together.”
Borthwick will hope that continuity is not disrupted by the lack of it off the pitch. England made progress this summer and they cannot afford to take backward step this autumn.
