England match unwanted six-year record as South Africa inflict further pressure on Steve Borthwick
Today at 03:27 PM
England have matched an unwanted record with their latest defeat.
The Red Roses were beaten 29-20 by South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday in their penultimate Autumn International.
Steve Borthwick’s side have now lost five Test matches in a row for the first time in six years.
They previously suffered an equally poor run of results between February and June 2018.
During that time, they were beaten by Scotland, France and Ireland in the Six Nations.
The Springboks then won the first two matches of England’s summer tour before the tourists won 25-10 in Cape Town.
That string of losses also included a defeat to the Barbarians at Twickenham.
Meanwhile, the current stretch of results dates back to the summer tour of New Zealand.
England were beaten twice by the All Blacks before a further defeat this autumn and a loss to Australia.
It means Borthwick has not overseen a win since beating Japan 52-17 in June, his only win in the last seven matches.
His side will hope to snap their losing streak and avoid more unwanted history against the same opposition next weekend.
England end their Autumn International campaign against Japan at Twickenham on November 24.
The team’s current form has only increased pressure on Borthwick ahead of next year’s Six Nations.
It is the worst run of results since the former lock took over from Eddie Jones in 2022.
He has since overseen fourth and third place finishes in the Six Nations.
Those tournaments came either side of a run to the semi-finals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
England ultimately finished third last year after recovering from a semi-final loss to South Africa to edge Argentina for bronze.
