George Ford says England’s unbeaten tour of the Americas puts them ahead of even their last visit, which proved a catalyst for them reaching a Rugby World Cup final.
England fly home having won both Tests in Argentina and kept their heads through a severely weather-delayed contest with the United States. Saturday’s game at Audi Field finished more than three and a half hours after the scheduled kick-off time.
‘Come the autumn we should be in a real good place’
Ford said: “These boys have put their hand up, they’ve took their opportunities. With the lads who are on the Lions doing the same thing, come the autumn we should be in a real good place.”
England’s last visit to Argentina, in 2017, also resulted in a swept series. The real gain, however, was in the emergence of Tom Curry and Sam Underhill. The back row duo would power England into the finals of the World Cup two years later, dubbed the ‘kamikaze kids’ by then head coach Eddie Jones.
Ford added: “On that trip two or three lads came through. But I’d honestly say there’s more in our [changing] room now. Come the autumn we should be in a real good place. It’s going to be unbelievable to be a part of that squad.”
England’s autumn series features home games at Allianz Twickenham against Australia (November 1), Fiji (Nov 8), New Zealand (Nov 15) and Argentina (Nov 23). Borthwick is already counting down the days.
Guy Pepper, Tom Willis, Fin Baxter, Joe Heyes, Seb Atkinson and Tom Roebuck all caught the eye, with Luke Northmore, Max Ojomoh, Caden Murley and Arthur Clark also deserving of honourable mentions.
“This has been a great experience,” added Borthwick. “We’ve faced different challenges. Ten new caps over the three Tests. You can see some real depth developing.
‘The players are athletic’
“You can also see the physical nature of the team. The players are athletic. They’re quick, they’re fit and that’s the way the England team is moving.”
The Cumbrian praised his squad for the way it adapted to different challenges across the three weekends. In La Plata they were camped on their own try line for for the first 40 minutes and did not concede a point.
In San Juan a week later they this time shut out the Pumas in the second half before finding a way to claim victory through Jack van Poortvliet’s last-gasp try.
In America’s capital the biggest challenge were the conditions. Set aside the lighting breaks, stifling humidity meant the ball was as slippery as a bar of soap.
“By no means was it the greatest game to watch,” addicted Jack van Poortvliet, an England try scorer along with Curtis Langdon, Luke Northmore, Caden Hurley, Harry Randall and Gabriel Oghre.
“It was the greasiest ball I’ve ever played with. It was hard work trying to keep the energy levels high when we were making quite a few mistakes.
“To go into a game and just as you get into a warm-up have that stopped, then have a shorter warm-up, then get 28 minutes in and be off again. It’s really hard. It definitely takes it out of you in terms of energy levels and mental concentration.”
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