A week ago, Steve Borthwick received a caveated vote of confidence from Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, who stopped short of confirming that he would remain in charge for the 2027 World Cup. The England head coach must effectively prove that he should stay in charge beyond this summer’s Nations Championship fixtures.

England’s next match is an ominous trip to Ellis Park to face the Springboks on July 4, yet rather than be bowed by such a challenge, vice-captain George cannot wait. “Yes, 100 per cent,” he said. “We haven’t played them in a while. I can’t wait. Genuinely, I can’t wait. I wish it was next week.”

George believes that England helped put a “smile on [fans’] faces” with their performance against France, who snatched victory at the death through Thomas Ramos’s penalty. George was especially proud of how England put the squeeze on France at the scrum and maul, and is confident that they can do a similar job on the Springbok set-piece.

“I think so,” George said. “Our set-piece is in a great spot. Look, South Africa haven’t played for 10 months. It’s very difficult for us to comment on where they’re at, but they are world class. They’re the best team in the world. Johannesburg is a difficult place to play them. But what an amazing opportunity that we’ve got with a great group of players. And we’re going to be excited about that one.”

‘Up there with favourites for the World Cup’

Before the summer fixtures, the RFU must conduct a review of “what hasn’t gone right” during a Six Nations campaign in which England set a number of unwanted records. As well as losing four games for the first time, including a historic defeat by Italy, Borthwick’s team conceded nine yellow cards and 151 points, both championship lows for England.

The review is expected to take several weeks and be conducted by a group of RFU and independent experts. George, however, is adamant the RFU should keep the faith, arguing that Borthwick can take England to World Cup glory in 2027.

“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 in 2027. We’re a great team, a great group of players, and he’s the perfect person to take us there. I think he has been unbelievable for English rugby, I think 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.

“Because he’s an English coach who cares so much about this game but he’s also a very, very good coach who has created an excellent programme. When you combine that with a good group of players it’s a recipe for success. It hasn’t been where it has needed to be over the last few weeks, the excellent thing about Steve is that we will have answers, we will have clarity to make sure it doesn’t happen again and we will be trained and put in positions to make sure we are comfortable that that doesn’t translate on to the field again.”