Is Borthwick under pressure after nightmare defeat?

ByAlastair Telfer

BBC Sport journalist at Allianz Stadium

Before the Six Nations started, England head coach Steve Borthwick talked about the game against France in Paris on 14 March being a possible title decider.

"We want to be in a position in that game to get what we all want to achieve. We want English fans flooding across the channel to get there and watch that game," he said.

A repeat of the 2016 Grand Slam in Paris and a first title since 2020 was the goal.

Instead, two heavy back-to-back defeats have left England in fourth place in the standings and out of the title race, with just one win against Wales to show for their efforts.

England's 12-game winning streak went up in smoke with a 31-20 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield last week, before their nine-match winning home run was emphatically ended with Saturday's equally dismal 42-21 defeat by Ireland.

The manner of those defeats raises questions about Borthwick's tactics and his team's mentality.

They also leave England needing to pick up points from away games against Italy and France to even finish mid-table.

"Two weeks ago after 12 wins on the bounce people were saying we were the best team in the world, and now we are all sorts of things. Neither of these are true," Borthwick told BBC Sport.

"We are on a journey of development that has a lot of growth in it. That England team from today will be a lot better in two weeks' time."

It was a nightmare performance at Allianz Stadium, with five tries conceded in one of the worst performances of Borthwick's tenure, on what was captain Maro Itoje's 100th cap.

Ireland scored 22 points inside the first 30 minutes - the fourth-most first-half points conceded by England at home.

That followed England going 17-0 down in 15 minutes against Scotland at Murrayfield.

"Fast starts are not about being physical and smashing them, that is a given, you are running out for your country," former England scrum-half Matt Dawson told BBC Rugby Union Weekly.

"It's about how you are going to play, where you will play and how they will play.

"It's individual preparation and the understanding of how to play professional sport, not just rugby.

"England, when it goes badly in the first 10 minutes, they are yet to find a methodology or a way out of it."

Borthwick has been here before as England boss. In 2023 his side shipped 53 points at home to France but later that year they were minutes away from making a World Cup final.

"England had a chance against Ireland to show the Murrayfield nightmare was just a blip, but instead things were even worse, with the defence porous, accuracy non-existent, and the gameplan exposed," said BBC rugby correspondent Chris Jones.

"All the momentum and confidence generated from that 12-month winning run has evaporated in the space of 160 minutes of rugby.

"England's tactics have been picked apart by Scotland and Ireland, and Borthwick will need to react and adapt if they are to salvage their campaign in Rome and Paris."

After seven dynamic caps off the bench, 21-year-old back rower Henry Pollock finally gained a first Test start.

The idea was his energy would help avoid a repeat of last week when Scotland blitzed England in the opening 20 minutes.

"What do you do? Two weeks in a row conceding so many points in the first 15 minutes," prop forward Ellis Genge told BBC Sport.

"Everyone has to take a look at themselves. No-one knows what the answer is right now or we would have sorted it out.

"It opened up scar tissue from last week - we have to be better at managing that period and stop turning the ball over.

"It's brutal, professional sport because if you get 5% wrong it's gone. We probably believed the hype from the first week too much. We can't let the noise in now."

Meanwhile, England found themselves deep in Ireland's 22 on multiple occasions but lacked any clinical edge, making 14 handling errors in the game.

George Ford also missed touch with a penalty that could have put the hosts in a scoring position.

"As players, senior players and the leadership team we have to take responsibility for not starting the game right," said Itoje.

"It was just our inaccuracy. We turned the ball over too much, and when we did get into positions to hurt Ireland we were not accurate and then gave ourselves a mountain to climb."

Ireland took advantage of England's poor one-on-one tackling to make 12 line breaks.

Stuart McCloskey's clean break came after replacement Jack van Poortvliet, who had long arrived on the field in place of the injured Alex Mitchell, overshot the read, with Ollie Lawrence then fended off.

That error resulted in Ireland's second try, while Fraser Dingwall was beaten on the outside by Robert Baloucoune, who dummied Tommy Freeman and then escaped Lawrence, for Tommy O'Brien's score.

Ireland captain Caelan Doris then broke through Genge to sprint clear and help set up Dan Sheehan's bonus-point try early in the second half.

Baloucoune and Sheehan's tries both resulted in yellow cards from scrambling defence by Freddie Steward and Pollock, which further added to England's problems.

"Sorry to the fans - you have been outstanding. We have let everyone down," Genge added.

"Apologies for that but I promise we will make it better. We are going to go away and work as hard as we can to go away and rectify things."

England's kick-heavy strategy was key in their 12-game winning run, but against Scotland they failed to win the aerial battle.

Freeman's switch back from outside centre to the right wing was with the view of improving in that area.

The 24-year-old had a mixed day in the air against Ireland, but still managed to compete when called upon.

Given Ireland lost James Lowe early to injury, utilising Freeman against O'Brien early could have brought some change.

Instead, Leinster's O'Brien managed to regather a kick that eventually led to Baloucoune's try.

Ireland simply won the aerial battle, also taking advantage of the height difference between the 6ft 4in Baloucoune and Henry Arundell, who is four inches shorter.

Arundell, 23, was backed to respond from his red card against Scotland and failed to enforce himself.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso's championship-ending injury is proving a vital moment in England's campaign.

What was once their biggest strength is now becoming a weakness.