England rugby’s Six Nations collapse: How title hopes fell apart after Ireland loss

England's head coach Steve Borthwick has watched his side slump in the Six Nations. Photo / AFP

England entered the Six Nations Championship with genuine hope of dethroning title-holders France and they launched their bid to be crowned rugby champions of Europe for the first time since 2020 with a 48-7 rout of Wales.

But hopes of championship glory effectively disappeared after the weekend’s record 42-21 Twickenham defeat by Ireland, which came just a week after an almost as emphatic 31-20 loss away to Scotland.

Here are three key aspects of England’s striking collapse:

Ambitious approach

Before the championship even started, England coach Steve Borthwick set his sights on a title-decider away to France in the final round of matches, saying: “On March 14 in Paris, we want to be in a position entering that game where we can achieve what we’re all aiming to achieve.”

A team with England’s rugby resources, both playing and financial, ought to be ambitious and there is nothing fundamentally wrong with aiming high.

But the issue was more that for a coach who had made such a mantra out of a “one game at a time” approach, such a bullish public statement jarred.

To borrow an old Irish expression, it was maybe just a sign that Borthwick had, ever so slightly, “lost the run of himself” and with it the team as well.

In that respect, hammering one of the weakest Wales teams in living memory, which gave his side a 12th successive win against all opponents, may have worked against Borthwick’s men, with Red Rose prop Ellis Genge telling the BBC after Saturday’s loss to Ireland: “We probably believed the hype from the first week too much. We can’t let the noise in now.”

‘Awful’ defence

For two games in a row, England’s defence has been ruthlessly exposed, with both Scotland and Ireland scoring a flurry of early tries.

The Scots led 17-0 after just 16 minutes at Murrayfield and the Irish were 22-0 up on the half-hour mark as they powered away to a win that would surpass their previous largest Twickenham triumph – a 32-15 success in 2022.

Both games were eminently losable – Ireland have now won six of their last seven tests against England and Scotland five of the past six – but a particular concern for Borthwick’s men during the past two matches has been an inability to cope with disruption, be it yellow cards or injuries.

“The spacing is all wrong,” wrote former England centre Will Greenwood in his Daily Telegraph column, with the 2003 World Cup-winner adding: “The defence was abject, awful. Quick ball kills England because they are too slow to react.”

Lack of composure

Following this thumping loss, it was easy to forget that England did manage sustained spells of possession early on at Twickenham but they lacked the wit to unlock a committed Ireland defence that refused to buckle in the face of repeated forward drives.

And as Ireland continued to make their tackles, England undid much of their good work with self-inflicted wounds such as when an 18-phase move ended with Genge dropping a pass from George Ford.

It was a tough day for veteran fly-half Ford as he failed to find touch with one early penalty and sent another dead before drawing ironic cheers from the Twickenham faithful when he finally located the sideline.

“George has done so much good for England for such a long period of time,” Borthwick told a post-match press conference. But he must now decide if Ford keeps the No 10 shirt when England resume their Six Nations campaign against Italy in Rome on March 7.

–AFP