'Nonsense' – Ex-England captain blasts Steve Borthwick's pressure claim

11/20/2024 05:54 AM

Former England rugby captain Nick Easter has branded Steve Borthwick's claim that England players are struggling with the pressure of wearing the red rose jersey as 'nonsense'.

The stats are damning. England fans have been forced to endure five successive losses for the first time since 2018, and this Autumn Series has been England's worst home run in 18 years. 

Although all three games against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa have been tight, and against quality opposition, there seems to be a block or an inability to get a win over the line for this England team.

Easter, currently defence coach with the USA Eagles, who are chasing a third successive win when they face Spain on Saturday, proudly wore the England jersey 54 times and exclusively told talkSPORT.com: "Steve Borthwick talks about pressure and the shirt 'weighing heavy'. I just think that's a load of nonsense. I played for England 54 times, and not once did I feel the shirt was too heavy.

"Sure, there's pressure, but it's a privilege to represent your country alongside the best players, against top-quality opposition. Of course, there's pressure to win, but your head coach can't be publicly saying things like that. It heaps excuses and victimhood onto this group of players. Any international coach who’s lost as often as he has will naturally be under pressure, and Steve would be the first to admit that.

"We need to embrace the fact that England are often a team's first or second most hated opposition. That should be a challenge to confront head-on. Look at New Zealand – they're always the team to beat. Whether they're top of the world (which they aren't at the moment) or not, they're still the scalp every team wants. It just doesn't seem like the basic skills needed to execute the tactics are there for England.

"The team is making a hell of a lot of errors at crucial times, and that's really concerning. I know people will point to one-point or two-point losses, but international rugby is about winning. In this era, it's about the result. Yes, you need to perform to get the result, but it's ultimately about the result.

"At international level, certain aspects of the game must be top-quality – set piece and defence being the big ones. Right now, neither is up to standard. The lineout is functioning, but the scrum is a major issue, and the defence is also a concern."

England captain Jamie George said he leads a 'clever' team after the loss to South Africa and Easter is not impressed. 

He said: "I like Jamie, but that's a ridiculous statement. If they were a clever team, they would have won these games. I think Jamie will regret using those words – it's not the right sentiment after the performances we've seen. If England were truly a clever team, they would have found a way to win these games."

England, who can expect an easier ride in their final game against Eddie Jones's Japan side on Sunday at Twickenham, have conceded an average of 28 points in narrow defeats by New Zealand and Australia and the 29-20 defeat by South Africa on Saturday to make this a depressing Autumn Nations Series for the fans. Borthwick's role is under increased scrutiny as he now faces his controversial former head coach Jones.

England have replaced World Cup winner Felix Jones with Joe El-Abd as defence coach and have seen the opposition exploit worrying lapses, and Easter added: "Since that Ireland last-minute drop goal to win in the Six Nations, we've lost six games and won one. If you take the Japan game out of it, we've played Ireland, France, New Zealand three times, Australia, and South Africa.

"In all those games, apart from South Africa, we've actually led after 60 minutes and that's what's worrying. Apart from the Ireland game, which was a bit of a shot in the dark because Ireland were runaway favourites to win the Grand Slam and there were no expectations, the issue seems to be execution. Our replacement decisions, especially in the loss to France, have been costly as well.

"The attack has been going relatively well, though there's still too much reliance on Marcus [Smith] magic to bring other players into the game. Both centres and Tommy Freeman had a very quiet autumn, so there's definite room for growth there.

"However, the focus has to be on shoring up the defence. We can't keep shipping soft tries. Look at Damian de Allende busting through a tackle from a standing start – that simply shouldn't happen at international level.

"Then there's the charge-down try and the defensive lapses we saw against Australia – system errors and poor tackling. Against Ireland, it was similar. These issues must be addressed before focusing on anything else because they're proving costly."

Easter, who is also director of rugby at Championship club Chinnor, is also concerned about England's inability to score tries in the final 20 minutes of matches which was clearly evident against South Africa. "One possibility is overtraining. If a team performs well early on but fades in the last 20 minutes, fatigue from excessive training might be a factor. However, the stronger explanation seems to be the quality of England's bench. It doesn't match the level of the starting lineup, particularly among the forwards.

"The final stages of a match require fresh impact players who can maintain gain-line dominance and ensure solid set pieces. By that point, the starting players have often spent 60 minutes on the field, so the team's overall sharpness and fluidity naturally decline. England's bench hasn't provided the necessary boost in these moments, especially when facing top-tier opposition. This lack of depth is especially evident when comparing England to teams like South Africa. 

"Looking ahead, the Six Nations will be England's next significant challenge. Japan won't provide much of a test in their upcoming match, and even a convincing win against them won't offer meaningful lessons. Having targeted three wins this autumn, England lost three games – when, realistically, they should have won two of them.

"Southern hemisphere teams benefit from continuity, having just finished the Rugby Championship, and are accustomed to playing high-intensity rugby. They excel at closing out games and making the right decisions under pressure. England needs to improve significantly in these areas, and the Six Nations will be a critical test of their progress. 

"They need to sort their defence out, and sort their scrum out. If they do those two things from a rugby point of view, I think situations that they find themselves in the last 20 minutes might become a bit easier.

"In the past, we thrived in those high-pressure environments. It prepared us for the intensity of World Cups, which is why we consistently performed well on the global stage – reaching finals in 2003 and 2007, for instance. England teams of that era were conditioned to handle tough, gritty situations and knew how to find a way to win, especially in the closing stages of games."