Steve Borthwick lays down Six Nations challenge to England as ‘different approach’ needed

England head coach Steve Borthwick during the 2024 Guinness Men’s Six Nations Launch at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, Ireland. Picture date: Monday January 22, 2024.

England head coach Steve Borthwick has laid down a challenge to his team to buck the trend of underperforming as they look to enjoy a strong Six Nations campaign.

The Red Rose’s recent record in the tournament has been poor to say the least, with a 50 per cent win ratio in the previous six Championships not making for pretty reading.

That disappointing run of form included two fifth-place finishes under former boss Eddie Jones, with France and Ireland having broken clear of the rest in recent years.

Italy away first up

England kick off their 2024 campaign with a trip to Rome to tackle Italy on Saturday, February 3 and Borthwick is eager for his side to start to the Six Nations in top gear.

“We want to make sure this England team is competing in every single game, which is not something you can say about recent years,” he said at the tournament launch.

“The expectations of supporters are a lot higher than what the team have actually achieved – and quite rightly.

“The team is really well aware that we haven’t performed in the Six Nations for a period of time.

“Ireland and France have been the dominant teams and everybody is trying to compete with those two sides.

“What’s happened in the past is that lots is talked about England prior to the tournament, but England haven’t then achieved.

“Our intent is to hit the ground running in Rome the way we want with the intensity that we want to, which again is something that England have not done in recent years.”

He added: “At times we have not jumped into this tournament and have been caught in that first game.

Different mindset

“We want this to be a different mindset for England, a different way of approaching the game and the tournament. And we will approach our camp in Girona differently.

“We’re taking a different approach because we need different results to previous tournaments.”

After their visit to Italy, England return to Twickenham for a clash with Wales before facing Scotland at Murrayfield. They then host Ireland before ending away to France.