Progress or standing still - where are England under Borthwick?

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'Chaos' & 'comedy refereering' as England beat Argentina

ByAlastair TelferBBC Sport journalist

Published17 minutes ago

Pressure was on England for their summer Nations Championship fixtures after the Rugby Football Union backed head coach Steve Borthwick in May, following the country's worst Six Nations performance since the tournament's expansion in 2000.

Given England managed only one victory in the Six Nations, a tough defeat to world champions South Africa at Ellis Park was never going to carry too much weight, only if wins followed against Fiji and Argentina.

They did - just - as Borthwick's side completed their "brutal" summer schedule, which included more than 25,000 miles of travel.

As the 2027 Rugby World Cup continues to creep closer, where are England under Borthwick, and do their Nations Championship performances point to progress?

Discipline remains a red flag

Having received the highest number of cards (eight yellows, two of which combined for a red) of any team in a Six Nations campaign since Italy in 2002, the RFU flagged England's ill-discipline as an area that had to improve this summer.

In short, it has not.

Former scrum-half Matt Dawson described England's discipline as "verging on comical" after their number of yellow cards for the year reached 14 in the chaotic 31-24 controversial win over Argentina.

"I don't think now is the time to be digging into that," Borthwick said of his side's discipline in the aftermath of the victory in Santiago del Estero.

But when is the right time?

An emphatic 73-8 win over Fiji in Liverpool ended a five-game losing run and was the only match this year in which England did not receive a yellow card.

Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper were sent to the sin-bin late on against the Springboks.

Former England scrum-half Danny Care pointed out on BBC's Rugby Union Weekly that, across eight matches in 2026, Borthwick's side have spent more than two hours of rugby without a full complement of players on the pitch.

"It is the same stuff. It is not thuggish behaviour or violence," Care said.

"It is the little ones that you do not get away with under pressure, and pressure makes you do silly things.

"They have to work it out quite quickly. The senior players and coaches have a big job to limit them, as they won't win Test matches against the best teams."

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England's discipline 'verging on comical' - Dawson
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England outclassed by South Africa in Nations Championship

Feyi-Waboso return helps find cutting edge

In July, England scored 125 points - a tally inflated by Fiji's no-show and playing a half with 14 players.

England kicked the ball more than any other team in the Six Nations.

Borthwick's side also recorded the second-highest number of entries into the opposition 22 during the Six Nations, but averaged only 2.7 points from each visit.

Only Italy, with an average of 1.6 points, had a worse return, with the RFU calling for more cutting edge in attack this summer.

Lee Blackett's attack, which did trouble South Africa in patches, was at its free-flowing best against Fiji, but arguably looked most impressive in the first half against Argentina.

"That first half was brilliant. England dominated, commanded and controlled everything," added former England wing Ugo Monye.

England scored three first-half tries in a hostile atmosphere as wingers Tommy Freeman and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who missed this year's Six Nations through injury, looked dangerous throughout the game.

Feyi-Waboso, 23, was the standout performer. From 12 carries, he beat 13 defenders, made 116 metres and produced four line breaks.

His importance was underlined by the fact he started all four November Tests, which formed part of England's 12-game winning streak.

Staying fit has been Feyi-Waboso's problem, and England must manage him and Freeman - who has looked more threatening on the wing than at 13 - correctly over the next 12 months.

"That [Argentina] was Manny's [Feyi-Waboso] best game for England," Monye added.

"I don't know why it has taken England so long. Their gameplan to get him [Feyi-Waboso] into the game is everything that Northampton do with Tommy Freeman to get him into the game.

"There was a period where he may have thought his role in this England team was to chase kicks and try to get the ball back."

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Pollock scores hat-trick as 11-try England thrash Fiji

'The negativity committee' - Borthwick fired up

"You're like the negativity committee, so it's lovely coming and talking to you again."

Borthwick, usually measured with the media, had a rare bit of bite to him in Argentina.

The hosts were denied a shot at levelling the match when Bautista Delguy's 83rd-minute try was controversially chalked off.

Prior to the game, Borthwick was asked about his continuity in selection: "That's four new caps in the past two weeks - how many caps did you want?"

England also faced criticism in the build-up to the 2023 World Cup, which included five defeats in six games and a first-ever loss to Fiji.

Care played at the 2023 World Cup and recalls Borthwick creating "a narrative within the group that it's you against the world".

"We did that at the 2023 World Cup, and it worked," Care added.

"Internally, what Steve is really good at is galvanising the group by saying, 'Look, even the media are having a go at us now, let's go and prove everyone wrong.'

"I didn't mind him clapping back a little bit. At least it showed a bit of fight because what people have said about Steve before is they can't break through to him and he's almost a little bit robotic."

Borthwick leaned heavily on a group of experienced players, well used to criticism, to reach the semi-finals of the 2023 World Cup.

Since then, that squad has been rejuvenated with exciting young talents - such as Henry Pollock, Freeman and Feyi-Waboso - while depth continues to be built.

Captain Maro Itoje will return from a rare summer break refreshed, and his side have now experienced the highs of a 12-game winning run and the lows of a five-game losing streak.

Unprecedented summer travel has likely played a role in why the thrilling performance at the end of the Six Nations against France in Paris has not been replicated.

But sitting two points off top spot in the northern hemisphere section of the Nations Championship, Borthwick's side are in a strong position to welcome Australia, Japan and New Zealand to Allianz Stadium in November.

Nine games are in England's diary before the World Cup warm-up games, with the window for change now likely closing.