Steve Borthwick’s position as England coach is being called into question, but captain Jamie George insists it is the players who must take responsibility for a run of five straight defeats.
South Africa’s 29-20 win at Twickenham on Saturday continued a miserable month for England, beaten 24-22 by New Zealand and 42-37 by Australia in their opening two November internationals.
England round off 2024 next weekend at home to a Japan side coached by former Red Rose boss Eddie Jones, with a win over the unfancied Cherry Blossoms unlikely to dampen down the debate regarding Borthwick’s future ahead of next year’s Six Nations.
Their current losing streak is England’s worst since 2018, with Saturday’s reverse meaning they have suffered three consecutive defeats at Twickenham for the first time since 2006.
The Rugby Football Union have said Borthwick retains their full support, with George adamant the former England captain was not to blame for the current slump.
“We are as frustrated as everyone else and it’s important for us as players to take responsibility for the last three performances,” said George.
“When you look at the positions that we put ourselves in across all three games and when we play to the plan, I think we are a very, very dangerous team.”
But the 34-year-old Saracens hooker added: “When we stray away from that, we allow teams opportunities and that’s exactly what happened against South Africa.
“Of course we are disappointed with the results. We need to find the fixes to closing out games.
“But I have every confidence and belief in the players and the staff that we will do everything we possibly can to be a significantly better team come next weekend, but also looking ahead to the Six Nations.”
England recalled Freddie Steward, renowned for his ability under the high ball and well-known to Borthwick from their time together at Leicester, on Saturday.
But the full-back and his England team-mates were tormented by South Africa star Cheslin Kolbe, who scored two of the Springboks’ four tries, and fellow wing Kurt-Lee Arendse.
“We have been there,” said Springboks’ coach Rassie Erasmus of England’s losing run. “What you normally do then is fall back on what you know as a coach and know works.
“We had a good feeling he (Borthwick) will go with Steward at full-back. He is fantastic in the air.
“We tried to not kick to him but they swap so much around there. The way Cheslin and Kurt-Lee and the boys contested in the air wasn’t as good as him, but for those small guys to get up there and catch the ball, we rested them last week (in a 32-15 win over Scotland) with this in mind.”
Erasmus, however, insisted England were close to becoming a winning side once again.
“They have had three Southern Hemisphere teams (as opponents this month), they took them close to the last 10 minutes. We found it tough to break them down. It was difficult.”
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