Opinion: England a ‘side reborn’ after Six Nations as the ‘straitjacket has gone’ under Steve Borthwick
Marcus Smith diving over for England in Six Nations clash with France.
At the end of a breathless, pulsating contest in the heart of France, Steve Borthwick took words out of the mouth of basketball great Michael Jordan.
“With that kind of intensity we never lose, we just run out of time,” England’s head coach said.
Hoops legend Jordan was the focal point of Netflix series The Last Dance, which makes Borthwick’s choice of quote somewhat ironic. If ever there was a night to signal the start of something, rather than the end, it was this.
A side reborn
England came up short, both in the match and the championship itself, yet have so transformed themselves that they are a side reborn.
In eight days they have beaten Ireland, Six Nations champions and the hottest team in rugby, and taken to the wire a France side that stuck 53 points on them at Twickenham a year ago.
Not by knocking over a fistful of penalties and playing turgidly from set-piece to set-piece, but scoring tries. Seven of them.
“The fight these boys have…” Borthwick told another microphone in another room as he warmed to his theme, “We weren’t beaten tonight, we just ran out of time.
“I get the sense with these guys that I don’t think they’re ever beaten.”
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You wouldn’t have said that in Scotland three weeks ago where England could not catch a cold, dropping everything and conceding 22 turnovers in defeat.
They were a team going nowhere, struggling to marry an aggressive new blitz defence with a non-existent attack.
The criticism stung – “apparently, we’re the worst England team ever,” Ben Earl snarled some days later. But it was not without justification. If they did have a playing identity it was hidden from view.
In life sometimes you need to hit rock bottom to bounce back. So it has proved with England, who privately accepted Edinburgh had to be their nadir and used the hurt to pull themselves together.
The bottom line is they still came up empty-handed at the Groupama Stadium, on an evening in which even the fireworks and laser show played second fiddle to the rugby.
A week after snatching victory against the Irish with Marcus Smith’s last-gasp drop goal, they got to know how Andy Farrell’s team felt – Thomas Ramos’ ice-cool penalty goal with almost the last kick a dagger to the heart.
It was like the World Cup semi-final all over again, when Handre Pollard struck from deep to snatch glory from English grasps up the road in Paris.
Only this was far more of a statement performance in terms of direction of travel. Against the Boks England were physical and obstinate and heroically defiant, but their game was all about containment. There was no sign of a try.
Here what they may have lacked in accuracy and control they more than made up for in sheer daring. At times it was genuinely thrilling.
Okay, they maintained their record of trailing at half-time in every game of the tournament and twice gave up winning positions in a frenetic second half.
Straitjacket gone
But they played with ambition, with joie de vivre. The straitjacket they wore through February was gone, replaced with an intent which made plain the players had left Murrayfield deciding enough is enough.
“I’ve talked about the weight of the shirt in the past,” said Borthwick. “I think with the kind of support we’re getting the England shirt is starting to feel a bit lighter, it’s helping these players grow.”
For captain Jamie George this has been the best and worst of times, asked to skipper his country at a time of deep personal grief and responding in a way that surprised nobody who knows him.
“Ultimately we’re going to be disappointed as we came into this tournament believing we were going to win it,” he said.
“We’ve shown in parts we’re a good enough team to do that and overall I’m so excited about what the future holds for English rugby. I’m at the heart of it and I believe we have the players to do some very special things.”
It should be noted that Shaun Edwards condemned France’s defensive performance as “probably the worst since I have been here”. Their midfield defensive alignment, in particular, was wretched.
But the way England recovered from a 16-3 deficit to lead with three tries in six minutes through Ollie Lawrence (2) and Smith either side of half-time speaks volumes for their character.
They head home cursing two butchered lineouts which cost them two converted tries because ultimately that was the difference.
With three months until they face Japan at the start of a tour which takes in two Tests against New Zealand there is no guarantee they will simply pick up the thread and go again.
But from where they were in Edinburgh – frankly where they have been pretty much since 2020 – this was better. Much, much better.
READ MORE: Thomas Ramos’ clutch kick sees France edge England in seven-try Six Nations thriller
