"It's tough right now, it's painful" – 5 Talking Points: Steve Borthwick and Jamie George react to England's nine-point defeat to South Africa

Yesterday at 05:07 PM

England head coach Steve Borthwick wore his heart on his sleeve, as he spoke to the media following a third consecutive loss in the Autumn Nations Series. The 29-20 defeat to the Springboks works out to be the fifth straight loss for England, dating back to the back-to-back matches against New Zealand this past Summer.

Borthwick was flanked by his England captain Jamie George, with the duo addressing the nine-point defeat to South Africa. There is plenty of pressure riding upon the shoulders of Borthwick, with England fans beginning to grow impatient after repeatedly finishing matches on the losing side of the score-line. Borthwick shares in the frustration, and expressed how no one feels the pain of losing more than him and his England players.

1. BORTHWICK FEELS THE SHARED PAIN OF THE FRUSTRATED ENGLAND FANS

STEVE BORTHWICK: “I think that it’s incredibly frustrating. I feel the frustration of the players, the disappointment of the supporters. Whilst there’s much to be proud of, positive about, we want to win games. We’ve put ourselves in a position to win the games but not convert them. These are challenging days right now, the development days for us, it’s painful.

“We will work through this and we will ensure that we are a better team coming out of it.It’s becoming a theme isn’t it, getting yourself into a position to win the games but then falling off.”

“I’m very confident with the whole management team. We have coaching, a full management team. Ultimately, we’re getting in positions to win the games. There’s a lot of things being done really, really well. Now, clearly we’re going against teams like today. The level of experience they have and the level of experience they’ve seen those games out. Now, as I say, these games, it’s tough right now. It’s painful, but we will work through it and we will be a better team because of these painful experiences now.”

2. STEVE BORTHWICK IS ‘IMPATIENT’ FOR A WIN BUT CONTINUES TO BACK HIS TEAM

STEVE BORTHWICK: “Well I think that the most impatient people are without question us that are in the team, with the team. We want the players and coaches and all management, we want everything to happen now. I think as you look at the transition of this team, if you can simply compare the two teams there, I think 15 players who were in the semi-final a year ago and they’ve obviously kept that team very much together.

“Our team, we had a number of players finish after the World Cup and this last year has been one of transitioning a lot of young players into this England team, which I think have an incredibly exciting future and it’s transitioning the way we’re trying to play also. You can see when the team moves the ball, you see just the talent that we have and the pace that we have.What I would do is make sure that we make all those moments count.”

CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

The post “It’s tough right now, it’s painful” – 5 Talking Points: Steve Borthwick and Jamie George react to England’s nine-point defeat to South Africa appeared first on Ruck.