England finished fifth, level on points with Wales, after just one victory in the 2026 Six Nations and it has led to calls for Steve Borthwick to go
Steve Borthwick, the England head coach(Image: Getty Images)
Calls for change at the top of English rugby have intensified after former England international and prominent pundit Stuart Barnes urged the RFU to replace Steve Borthwick following the team’s disastrous Six Nations campaign.
England finished fifth in the table after Saturday night’s chaotic 48-46 defeat to France in Paris, ending the tournament with just one victory – against Wales in round one – in what has been widely described as the side’s worst-ever Six Nations performance.
A formal review by the RFU is now set to take place over the coming weeks, with Borthwick required to explain the reasons behind England’s slump and outline how he plans to turn results around ahead of the Nations Championship this summer.
But writing in The Sunday Times, Barnes delivered a scathing assessment of England’s direction under the current regime and said the time had come for a new head coach.
“The damage to England’s Six Nations was done before Saturday night,” Barnes wrote. “It wasn’t the defeats against Scotland and Ireland and a first loss to Italy so much as the way England played.
“Whenever Steve Borthwick is involved in competition rugby he pulls up the drawbridge and reverts to the safety-first option of the boot. It is time for a change.”
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Barnes acknowledged that England’s free-flowing display in the dramatic defeat to France might lead some to argue Borthwick deserves more time, but he believes that performance should not disguise deeper problems.
“With the handbrake off, it is no surprise that England did what they did in Paris,” he wrote. “This brave showing was an isolated performance in a Six Nations season of concentrated conservatism and should not alter the overwhelming question: should Borthwick stay or should he go?”
Barnes has made his opinion clear, arguing that England require a different style of leadership ahead of the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
“Regardless of the result in Saturday night’s match, my conclusion would have been the same,” he said. “England need a fresh man to take them to the World Cup. And that man is Michael Cheika.”
The Australian, currently working with the Sydney Roosters in rugby league after a spell coaching Leicester Tigers, is seen by Barnes as the ideal candidate to transform England’s approach.
Barnes also pointed to Cheika’s track record of rapid turnarounds, highlighting how he took Australia from struggling in 2014 to World Cup finalists a year later.
The call comes as Borthwick prepares to face scrutiny during the RFU’s standard post-tournament review process, which involves an anonymous panel of internal and external figures, including former players.
On this occasion the England head coach will be asked to provide explanations for the team’s four-match losing run, which included heavy defeats to Scotland and Ireland and a damaging loss to Italy in Rome.
Despite the growing criticism, Borthwick has received backing from within the squad, with England captain Jamie George insisting the players remain fully behind their head coach.
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“Steve is one of the best coaches I’ve ever worked under,” George said.
“Under Steve I think we will be right up there with the favourites to win the World Cup. We’re a great team, a great group of players and he’s the perfect person to take us there.
“He has been unbelievable for English rugby. It’s crazy what has been happening over the last few weeks and he is absolutely the right man to lead us forward for a long time.”
George admitted, however, that England’s tournament had fallen far short of expectations.
“I’m not shying away from the fact that one in five is not good enough,” he said. “The players need to take responsibility for that because what we put out on the field in a couple of games in particular wasn’t good enough.”
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney has already publicly backed Borthwick following the defeat to Italy, but the outcome of the review could still shape England’s direction heading towards the next World Cup.
As Barnes warned, the governing body now faces a defining decision.
“If he sticks and England flop in Australia,” Barnes wrote, “both he and Borthwick will be gone, the damage to English rugby well and truly done.”