Eddie Jones believes Steve Borthwick\u2019s unusually bold approach prior to the Six Nations Championship has played a part in their disastrous past two performances.<\/p>\n
The Red Rose started the tournament well enough by hammering Wales but they have followed that up with awful displays against Scotland and Ireland.<\/p>\n
That has ended their Grand Slam dream and also their title chances, with France 10 points ahead with two matches remaining.<\/p>\n
The \u2018Super Saturday\u2019 clash between Les Bleus and the Red Rose was earmarked as a likely Grand Slam decider and Borthwick bought into that hype.<\/p>\n
Confident Borthwick<\/p>\n
England\u2019s<\/a> head coach rarely gives much away in interviews and press conferences but he was quite happy to state that they were looking towards that finale before the Six Nations<\/a> had even begun.<\/p>\n Jones<\/a> was surprised by the messaging and felt that his bosses at the RFU may have had a certain amount of influence in what Borthwick<\/a> said.<\/p>\n \u201cI will go back to the start of the Six Nations because I thought Steve made some very uncharacteristic comments about a title-decider against France, and looking ahead,\u201d he told the Rugby Unity podcast.<\/p>\n \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 \u201cSometimes the pressure comes that the union wants to hear more, they want to entice the fans \u2013 they\u2019re all hungry for money so they want fan support.<\/p>\n \u201cBe a bit bold, come out and someone\u2019s told him to do that. The players read everything, the wives read everything, the girlfriends read everything, the boyfriends read everything, they all read it.<\/p>\n \u201cThey hear it and they talk to them, and they go, \u2018we\u2019ve got to get our tickets for France. Where are we staying?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAll of that happens, right, and the slight psychological change you get in the team because of that, they start to look ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n Eddie Jones \u2018felt a bit sick\u2019 after England hammering as Steve Borthwick\u2019s side lost their \u2019emotional control\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Given that England had been on an 11-match winning run going into the Six Nations \u2013 which became 12 after the Wales success \u2013 it is perhaps not unfair to look ahead to what would have been their toughest challenge.<\/p>\n They were expected to dispatch Scotland and Ireland relatively comfortably, but Jones reckons the recent results have shown what can happen when the mind drifts from the next task.<\/p>\n Scotland loss \u2018crept into their psyche\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they lose the game like they did against Scotland \u2013 they got caught on the hop against Scotland \u2013 and I think the Scotland game against Wales shows that they were just caught on the hop,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a one-off, but now that one-off has crept into their psyche. They\u2019re disappointed about where they are, they\u2019re all feeling a bit threatened now and how do change it around?<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes leadership on and off the field, that\u2019s the only way to change it around.<\/p>\n \u201cI can remember we started to get out of that when Courtney [Lawes] came on as captain [in 2021]. Owen [Farrell] had been injured and Courtney had a real togetherness about him and started to bring the team together.<\/p>\n \u201cOwen came back and gave us a bit of steel, and we were starting to find something again. It generally comes down to leadership \u201c<\/p>\n There has been criticism of Borthwick following the losses to Scotland and Ireland, but sometimes there is little a coach can do according to Jones, particularly during a game.<\/p>\n