There have been annual gains since the Edinburgh defeat two years ago.
Under the guidance of Richard Wigglesworth, England’s attack scored 25 tries in last year’s Six Nations, the most the team have managed in a single campaign in almost a quarter of a century.
As well as the 10-try rout of Wales, they ran in four against eventual champions France and seven at home to Italy.
Lee Blackett – the mastermind of a Bath backline that scored an unrivalled 102 tries on their way to winning last year’s Premiership – inherited that upward trajectory.
Seconded for the tour of Argentina last summer with a brief to “remould” England’s attack, a 2-0 series win followed, despite the absence of 15 senior players to the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia.
Blackett was then appointed attack coach permanently in September.
A clean sweep of the autumn followed, including the exhilarating win against New Zealand.
In the early days of Borthwick’s reign, attacking platforms were often wasted by an inaccurate, even hopeful kick. England were statistically the worst of all Tier 1 sides at turning clear opportunities into tries, converting just 28% of their chances.
However, in 2025, only South Africa and France were more effective at scoring from a line-break, with England’s completion rate rising to 43%.
“(Blackett) is really good at giving players confidence to take risks,” said Ashton. “You need a coach who’s encouraging you to score tries.”