England hooker Jamie George marked his record-breaking try against Australia with a fired-up celebration, days after publicly defending head coach Steve Borthwick against media reports of a rift within the squad.
George crossed the whitewash early in the Nations Championship fixture at the Allianz Stadium, becoming England's highest-scoring forward with his 18th Test score. A fired-up George screamed in delight at supporters after the try.
Reports of a rift
Ahead of the clash with the Wallabies, The Times reported that some England players had lost faith in Borthwick during the summer. The piece alleged that players objected to Borthwick's treatment of them and that he was involved in a training ground bust-up with Ellis Genge.
The article added that players had asked Rugby Football Union CEO Bill Sweeney, who backed Borthwick this week, to listen to their concerns.
George's response
Speaking on Friday, George called the article "shocking", claiming there wasn't a "huge amount of truth" to it. He expanded on those comments with Sky Sports this week.
"I'm really disappointed with the article that's been written," said George. "There's not a huge amount of truth to any of it, really. I think the timing of it is shocking, to be completely honest. Releasing it two days before a Test match is always trying to be divisive, in my opinion.
"I think that we're all quite hurt. We have made sure that we aren't distracted by it, but also allowing us to be galvanised by it, in a way, because we want to defend Steve. We are all massively behind Steve in every way possible. I think probably, unfortunately for them, it won't be divisive and it might be quite galvanising for us."
Squad unity
George revealed that the squad addressed the reports directly. "We had to address it. I spoke to [captain] Maro [Itoje] last night. I don't like elephants in rooms," he said. "I just think that everything is much better out in the open. And we did exactly that. Maro spoke brilliantly, opened it up. George Ford then spoke brilliantly. It's done now.
"We're upset by it. We are disappointed with it. At the same time, we're seeing it for what it is and understanding that we've got a really important role to step up now and look after Steve in every way that we know how. The best way to do that is by putting out a brilliant performance on Sunday."
