- Steve Borthwick’s side begin their campaign against Ireland on February 1
- Players have reported for duty in Spain carrying a range of fresh setbacks
- Most English clubs have endured heavy defeats over the last month or so
England are hoping that their Six Nations training camp here in northern Spain will aid the healing process for all their players who have been ‘humbled’ in club rugby recently.
Steve Borthwick’s squad are preparing for a seismic championship opener against title-holders Ireland in Dublin on February 1 without the benefit of momentum. While the national team lost seven of their 12 Tests in 2024, most English clubs have endured ordeals in the last month or so.
Leicester were thrashed 80-12 by Toulouse last weekend, Saracens lost 68-10 at Bath four weeks ago and their West Country conquerors then shipped 47 points against Leinster in the latest Champions Cup round.
A week earlier, Sale suffered a 40-0 whitewash against the Stormers in Cape Town, after they had stunned Bristol with a 38-0 eclipse at Ashton Gate.
England skills coach Kevin Sinfield admitted that England players have all arrived for international duty carrying a burden of fresh setbacks.
Having confirmed that Northampton pair Alex Mitchell and Ollie Sleightholme have not yet trained here, he said: ‘If you look at the last few weeks, the majority of our players have had a pretty hefty score put on them. I don’t think anybody has been immune from a score they wouldn’t have been pleased with.
England begin their Six Nations campaign under Steve Borthwick against Ireland without the benefit of momentum
Freddie Steward (right) admitted that club defeats complicate the transition into Test mode
Kevin Sinfield revealed that the players have reported for duty carrying a burden of setbacks
‘It’s understandable that when you come in after a defeat like that, you’re massively humbled. That’s what rugby does to you. It’s the great thing about sport. You think you’re riding high and suddenly you get your legs taken from under you.
‘Over the last three weeks, they’ve all had to face difficulties. But they’ve all been able to move on and although they still carry a little bit of that with them, the longer we spend together, the longer it is since the loss. As time progresses, it’s a great healer for them. The fact we’re away means that some of the noise is lost for them and they can focus on something different. It’s good for them.’
Freddie Steward was part of the Leicester side who were ripped to shreds by European champions Toulouse in the south of France last weekend and he admitted that it complicates the transition into Test mode.
‘It’s difficult, because you don’t want to come in here on the back of something like that and I care a lot about Leicester,’ said the full-back.
‘It’s hard to just park it and draw a line in the sand. I think, mentally, it will probably impact me for a while. But the challenge is to try to deal with that after the Six Nations. We’ve got a job to do here.’
Sinfield emphatically vouched for another of the wounded Tigers contingent, Ollie Chessum. Having missed the Autumn Nations Series campaign due to injury, he is regarded as the front-runner for the blindside flanker berth and his lack of game-time is not apparently seen as a barrier to restoring him to England’s pack and starting XV at the earliest opportunity.
Asked about Chessum’s lack of on-field minutes, Sinfield said: ‘There’s a great deal of trust and he’s got a great deal of credit in the bank. When I first joined Leicester, I’d been there two weeks and I picked out four players from training who would be internationals. Chez was one of them.
‘You could see he oozes confidence, belief, athleticism and a real drive and desire to be better. He’s a big competitor. In an ideal world, he would have loads of minutes under his belt and absolutely be tearing trees up, but it’s different for every player.
‘Chez is a top player and the lads respect him. He’s fit. He’s a guy who’s naturally fit anyway, so he’s probably one of the lucky ones, but he works incredibly hard. He’s done a lot of rehab over the last couple of years because the nature of the injuries he’s had. He’s really important to us.’
