Eddie Jones believes England\u2019s dramatic collapse in the Six Nations can be explained by Steve Borthwick\u2019s overconfidence in looking ahead to a title decider against France before the tournament had begun.<\/p>\n
Successive emphatic defeats to Scotland<\/a> and Ireland<\/a> have undone the progress made during a 12-Test winning run and turned the round-four appointment against Italy in Rome on 7 March into a game they dare not lose.<\/p>\n It is a very different scenario to the one Borthwick had envisioned when naming his Six Nations squad last month<\/a>. \u201cOn 14 March in Paris, we want to be in a position entering that game where we can achieve what we\u2019re all aiming to achieve,\u201d the head coach said on 23 January.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want England fans flooding across the Channel to Paris to watch the team in a massive encounter in the final round with the opportunity to achieve what we want.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones, Borthwick\u2019s predecessor as England head coach, who was in charge from 2016 to 2022, questions whether the Rugby Football Union might have had an influence on the remarks.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll go back to the start of the Six Nations. I thought Steve made some very uncharacteristic comments about a title-decider against France, looking ahead,\u201d Jones told the Rugby Unity podcast<\/a>. \u201cSteve is the most pragmatic and intelligent coach you could meet, but to look ahead for any team is fraught with danger. We all know that.<\/p>\n \u201cBut sometimes the pressure comes so that the union, the RFU, wants to hear more. They want to entice the fans because they\u2019re all hungry for money so they want fans support. So be bold, come out \u2013 someone has told him to do that.<\/p>\n \u201cThe players read everything, the wives read everything, the girlfriends read everything, the boyfriends read everything, they all read it. They hear that and they talk to them and they say: \u2018We\u2019ve got to get our tickets for France. Where are we staying? Where are we going to go the night before for dinner?\u2019<\/p>\n Steve Borthwick (left) and Eddie Jones pictured in 2018 when Jones was England head coach. Photograph: Andrew Matthews\/PA<\/p>\n \u201cAll of that happens and the slight psychological change you get in the team because of that, they start to look ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones insists that the 31-20 mauling at Murrayfield<\/a>, in which England conceded an early 17-0 deficit, left a mental scar that was carried into the five-try rout by Ireland<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey got caught on the hop against Scotland. The Scotland game against Wales<\/a> shows that they were just caught on the hop,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThat was a one-off, but now that one-off has crept into their psyche. They\u2019re disappointed about where they are and they\u2019re all feeling a bit threatened now. How do you change it around? It takes leadership on and off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n England next travel to Italy, a game that has increased significance and pressure after the past two defeats before the finale against France.<\/p>\n The will face a team shorn of one of its attacking talents, however, after the Italian Rugby Federation announced on Tuesday that Ange Capuozzo will miss the the remainder of the Six Nations<\/a> after the Toulouse full-back suffered a serious shoulder injury against France at the weekend.<\/p>\n