"He was fantastic" – 5 Talking Points: Steve Borthwick and Jamie George react to Asher Opoku-Fordjour's England debut in Japan win

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England recorded their first win of the Autumn Nations Series, with a solid 59-14 win against Japan. It felt like a fresh start for Steve Borthwick’s side, who ended their run of five consecutive defeats, as they pulled no punches in the landslide win at the Allianz Stadium. Borthwick and his captain Jamie George faced the media following a win, for the first time since their Summer tour victory back in June, which coincidentally took place against Eddie Jones’ Japan.

In what was the final post match press conference for England’s calendar year, Borthwick and George addressed the reporters at the Allianz Stadium, following the long awaited win. Covering everything from the debut of Asher Opoku-Fordjour to Borthwick’s run-in this with Eddie Jones, here are the top five talking points from England’s post match press conference.

1. Asher Opoku-Fordjour’s debut – Jamie George excited by what he saw in the young prop

20-year-old prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour made his England Test debut this evening, after a great deal of anticipation in the preluding weeks. The Sale prop had been in the England camp for the past month, following the unexpected international retirement of Joe Marler that shocked the rugby landscape. Opoku-Fordjour entered the fray at the 55th minute mark, and stepped up on the tight-head in the place of Bath prop Will Stuart.

JAMIE GEORGE: “I thought he (Opoku-Fordjour) was fantastic. What a brilliant performance from such a young man, especially coming on in a game like that and the way that he scrummed today. He didn’t get too much opportunity with the ball, which is what I was excited about, but sometimes a game goes that way.

“I think sort of the way the game ebbed and flowed, I think that was probably natural. But in the week he’s been brilliant, as I said. He really has added to the group. He’s quite a quiet bloke against someone with his business, but he’s really impressed me and I think the future is a very, very bright thing.”

2. Borthwick and George give their thoughts on the Autumn Nations Series as a whole

With just one win in four Test matches, it has been an Autumn Nations Series to forget for England. The narrow defeats to New Zealand and Australia were full of heartache, and England struggled to match the intensity brought to the Allianz by the world champion Springboks. However, England end the year on a high, with momentum rolling on into the new year.

STEVE BORTHWICK: “As you reflect on it, the obvious overriding feeling will be one of frustration to have come so close to getting results but not actually able to convert them in the first three weeks. That will be one emotion. The other aspect of it was real positivity around how  the team plays. I want the team to be brave with the ball. I want them to play fast. I think we’ve seen growth in that area over the last four weeks.”

JAMIE GEORGE: “I just echo that really. I think fundamentally we’re frustrated with the results, especially the first three. I think as with everything, you can break them down in isolation each game. I think there are different things that we can learn from each game but I’m genuinely very proud of the way that the boys fronted up to each opportunity.

“I think when we reflect the Australia game in particular, we won the one that we’re very frustrated with in particular because it was a game that we were very poor and didn’t look like us. But I was really pleased with the way that we fronted up last week against South Africa and pushed them close and then we were able to get over of the line this week. Like Steve said, the quality of the performance, the way that we went about it, I think was very impressive.”

3. Looking ahead to the 2025 Guinness Six Nations – England eye up a strong start to the new year

Test match rugby will return in early 2025, as the Six Nations roll around in the first weekend of February. England’s first Test is arguably the toughest of the lot, as they travel over to Dublin for an away Test against Ireland, who hold the honor of back-to-back Six Nations titles. Borthwick is happy to see the year out with a win, as England will reconvene in the new year for the task at hand.

STEVE BORTHWICK: “We will over the next week or two be looking in detail at the full debrief of what we need to do to move forward. I think there are some things at the end of games we haven’t quite converted and we can all pick out different ones, as Jamie’s just talked about.

“The natural thing is to always look at what we need to address, what we need to get better at. What we also need to be clear on is how this team wants to play. You see a team that’s developed in terms of its athleticism. It’s developed in terms of the skill set. You see a different, over this last period of time, you’ve seen a different make-up with the team. By that we play slightly different. I want to make sure we reflect on all the good things that have been done, the steps in that direction also.”

4. Ollie Lawrence takes centre stage as England improve their attacking structure

With nine tries to their name this afternoon, England were certainly hitting their stride on the attacking side of the ball. Borthwick’s men clicked into their revered top gear and showcased some impressive pieces of skill for some high quality tries. The likes of Tommy Freeman’s offload to George Furbank’s try, and Ollie Lawrence commanding performance were praised by the fans and media alike. Borthwick addressed the ever improving attacking set-up.

STEVE BORTHWICK: “I think that we’ve seen it (attack) develop. The players have been working exceptionally hard, which Jamie will testify to I’m sure, at developing our game. They working hard on fundamental skills. What’s really important at international rugby is that cohesion and relationships amongst the players. I think that’s developed over the last number of weeks.

“We’ve started to see bits of that in each game. I think we saw more of it today. I think the overriding (feeling) is the attitude that the players have, led by Jamie. An attitude to play fast. An attitude to want to get the ball to the edges. We saw how often we did that today. That's a big step forward in how we want to play.”

5. Steve Borthwick has ‘enormous respect’ for Eddie Jones with the two coaches meeting up

Steve Borthwick went head to head with his former boss this week, as once upon a time Borthwick was the England forwards coach to one Eddie Jones. The two share a history amongst the England staff that dates back to 2016, as Borthwick witnessed the end of the Stuart Lancaster era and the beginning of the Jones regime on the England coaching personnel. Borthwick shared how he met up with Jones ahead of the match, and planned another meet-up with the Australian after the final whistle.

STEVE BORTHWICK: “I was hoping to do a debrief with him, but we spent a couple of hours together yesterday. It was brilliant talking rugby with him. I think he’s a fantastic coach. I think we all have enormous respect for him. I’m sure we’ll be catching up after this.”

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