England suffered record defeat to Ireland in Six Nations at Twickenham
Borthwick blamed poor starts and turnovers for the loss
England players apologized to fans for consecutive poor performances
Ireland's defense and breakdown performance proved decisive
📖 Full Retelling
England head coach Steve Borthwick expressed his 'bitterly disappointed' reaction after his team suffered a record humbling by Ireland during Saturday's Six Nations match at Twickenham, attributing the defeat to England's own poor performance and inability to capitalize on scoring opportunities. This marked England's worst Six Nations performance since their 53-10 loss to France at home in 2023, with Borthwick specifically criticizing his team's tendency to give away too many points early in matches, leaving them 'a mountain to climb' against quality opposition. The England coach acknowledged that while there had been positive talk about the team's previous 12-game winning streak, the reality was that they still had 'plenty of work to do' and needed to address their recurring issues with turnovers and slow starts. Meanwhile, England prop Ellis Genge admitted the team had 'let everyone down' and acknowledged they may have 'believed the hype' too much after their first-week victory, while lock Maro Itoje, making his 100th appearance for England, pointed to inaccuracy around the breakdown as a critical factor in their downfall.
🏷️ Themes
Rugby Six Nations, Team Performance, Coaching Analysis
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland — both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland — in rugby union. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and in the Rugby World Cup. Ireland is one of the four unions that make up the British & Irish Lions.
England international rugby union player and head coach
Stephen William Borthwick (born 12 October 1979) is an English rugby union coach and former player, who is currently the head coach of the England national team. As a player, he played as a lock for Bath and Saracens. At international level, he played for England 57 times from his debut in 2001; he ...
Twickenham ( TWICK-ən-əm) is an affluent suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames 9.9 miles (15.9 km) southwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, whose administrative headquarters are in the area...
Borthwick ‘bitterly disappointed’ by latest Six Nations setback against Ireland ‘Given the opposition too many points,’ says head coach ‘We have let everyone down,’ admits Ellis Genge Steve Borthwick says England have only themselves to blame for their steep decline in this season’s Six Nations. After his side’s record humbling by Ireland on Saturday, Borthwick said his side are being punished for their poor starts to games and are leaving themselves “a mountain to climb” against quality opposition. This was England’s worst Six Nations defeat since they lost 53-10 at home to France in 2023 and Borthwick said he was “bitterly disappointed” with his team’s latest sub-par first-half showing. “Unfortunately, for two weeks now, we have given the opposition too many points and we have not got scoreboard presence. We will be looking closely at that and how I set the team up to make sure it doesn’t happen again. “Everybody can see we turned the ball over too many times. You get in field position opportunities to score and then you turn the ball over. Credit Ireland’s defence and Ireland at the breakdown. They were very, very strong there. “Two weeks ago, there was a lot of talk about 12 wins on the bounce. People were saying all kinds of positive things about this team and not all of them were true. Right now, after two losses, people will be saying other things about this team and they won’t all be true either. “The truth is somewhere in the middle. We are a team that has plenty of work to do, we know that. I have always said that. Ultimately, in the last two weeks, we have played against two high-quality teams and they have been better than us. Huge credit to Ireland, they took their chances and their kicking game was excellent.” Borthwick also defended his fly-half, George Ford, who was jeered by large sections of the crowd after squandering two crucial penalty opportunities by kicking the ball dead instead of finding touch. “George has done so much good for England for ...
