Steve Borthwick expressed his disappointment after England suffered a record defeat to Ireland in the Six Nations on Saturday, saying his side have only themselves to blame for their steep decline in form. The 53-10 loss at Twickenham was England's worst in the tournament since 2023, and Borthwick pointed to poor first-half performances as a recurring issue.
“Unfortunately, for two weeks now, we have given the opposition too many points and we have not got scoreboard presence,” Borthwick said. “We will be looking closely at that and how I set the team up to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He added that England turned the ball over too often, crediting Ireland's defence and breakdown work.
Borthwick defended fly-half George Ford, who was jeered by fans after kicking dead two penalty opportunities. “George has done so much good for England for such a long period of time,” Borthwick said, emphasising collective responsibility. Prop Ellis Genge told BBC Sport: “Two weeks in a row conceding so many points in the first 15 minutes. No one knows what the answer is right now.”
Maro Itoje, making his 100th England appearance, acknowledged the team's lack of accuracy. “We weren’t accurate in and around the breakdown and then when we had opportunities in Ireland’s 22 we weren’t accurate in taking them,” he said. Ireland's Dan Sheehan praised his team's performance, calling it “right up there with one of the best we’ve ever had.”
