Steve Borthwick has challenged his players to take inspiration from wearing the England jersey, which he believes dragged them down in the Scotland defeat at Murrayfield.
The England head coach cited the weight of the jersey as a factor in the 30-21 defeat and made three changes with the introduction of winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, scrum-half Alex Mitchell and second-row George Martin. Ireland are at Twickenham on Saturday.
Borthwick admits they cannot afford a repeat of their error-filled performance at Murrayfield, where they made 25 handling errors against what he describes as “the best team in the world”. But most importantly, he wants the team to embrace the responsibility of representing the country, rather than take it for granted.
“If you look at the match this weekend you will see that it is a match that will get you up and running. Borthwick is a great match where Twickenham will fuel the team,” he said. “A great game that will bring every ounce of energy and fight within the players in an environment where you will be tested against the best team in the world.
“We know there were mistakes against Scotland. It was probably the first time in a long time that I saw the weight of the jersey weighing on the players. You saw how we planned to play the way we started. “If you start deviating from the way you want to play it leads to more mistakes.
“As a player and in the teams I’ve been a part of, I’ve seen a lot of players feel the weight of that jersey and feel that the team is being scrutinized. The environment we want to create is supportive of the players and we recognize that mistakes will happen. What I’m after is a response to that. What do we learn from this? How fast can we move forward from this?”
As Telegraph Sport first reported, Exeter winger Feyi-Waboso will make his debut for England less than a year after joining Taunton Titans in the National Leagues. Borthwick quickly raised the other flanks. He gave Ollie Hassell-Collins a debut in last year’s Six Nations but was dropped two games later, handing Henry Arundell his first Ireland start and touched the ball just four times.
But Borthwick allowed Feyi-Waboso, who scored England’s second try as a substitute against Scotland, to get excited and told the 21-year-old to get as many touches as he can at Twickenham. “I remember years ago when (Ireland winger) James Lowe was playing for the Chiefs in New Zealand and there was one game where he carried the ball over 20 times, he was out on his wing to find the ball and that was a pattern,” Borthwick said. “He said. “When I watch Manny, I see his ability to come off the wing, move from No 9 and move in and out of No 10, like he did in the Scotland game. I’ve seen him pop up and do this a few times. pick and go because he wants the ball in his hands. We saw this in the Scotland match too. This is the encouragement I gave him; Give the ball to him.
“We have seen Manny make fantastic progress in these Six Nations. He deserved this opportunity. He took the field two weeks ago and made an incredible impact. “He is a player who wants the ball, wants to carry it and wants to take the team to the winning line.”
Borthwick has long been jealous of the Ireland system, which promotes continuity and cohesion, with 15 of Andy Farrell’s matchday squad coming from Leinster. Although only two England full-backs – George Ford and Henry Slade – retained the same jerseys throughout the English Championship, Borthwick hinted implicitly at the effects of the constant cutting and changing under his predecessor Eddie Jones.
“Looking back on that, I see that the continuity of selection over the last few years wasn’t always that obvious potentially, and making a lot of changes on a regular basis didn’t always help the team,” Borthwick said. “And I think that’s the right team for our game this weekend.
“I have looked closely at what has happened to the England team in previous periods. I have looked closely at it and compared it. Things like continuity and cohesion of selection. We can all see that sometimes that is not the case. England, when they are a dominant club side and a lot of players come from the same team, generally “You see him performing well. We see that in other teams as well. My job is to secure all the players we have here, maximize them and bring them together.”
“But I also think these players have made huge progress over the last year and we have now begun the next step of the journey in this Six Nations. Continuity of selection is also an important factor.”
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