John Dennen
Sports journalist
England head coach Steve Borthwick admits being crushed 53-10 by France was ‘painful’; England’s final Six Nations match pits them against an Irish side playing for a Grand Slam at home, but Borthwick says: “We are delighted with this game. We believe in what we are trying to do”
Last update: 03/16/23 9:29 p.m.
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Steve Borthwick says England’s heavy loss to France was ‘painful’ but thinks team worked hard for ‘better performance’
Steve Borthwick says England’s heavy loss to France was ‘painful’ but thinks team worked hard for ‘better performance’
After suffering a 53-10 thrashing against France last weekend at Twickenham, England travel to Dublin this Saturday to face an Irish side playing for a Grand Slam at home.
It’s a daunting task, but England head coach Steve Borthwick has claimed it’s one of his most beloved teams.
“From our perspective, we’re excited about this game. We believe in what we’re trying to do,” Borthwick said ahead of their final Six Nations match.
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England head coach Steve Borthwick has selected a 36-man squad for their Six Nations final against Ireland as they look to bounce back from that humiliating 53-10 loss to France.
“We understand that we have a lot of work to do. We knew before the game last week and we saw quite clearly, I was very candid before and after the game about the gap.
“We look forward to testing our abilities against the world’s first team in what promises to be a really exciting game on Saturday.”
England made changes to their starting squad; a hamstring injury to Ollie Lawrence sees Manu Tuilagi replacing him inside centre, while David Ribbans replaces the also injured Ollie Chessum in second.
England’s last Six Nations game is against an Irish side in search of a Grand Slam
Borthwick selected Henry Arundell on the wing and has now dropped fly-half Marcus Smith, with Owen Farrell returning.
“Regarding the change to 10, as always, I choose a team that I think is the right team for the game that we are going to play, the plan that we want to try to introduce into the game and against the specific opposition,” Borthwick said. .
“Everyone around the team, the players, the coaches, every member of the management team found the result and the performance last week painful. It hurts. All of us worked together this week to get a better performance on Saturday.
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England Rugby head coach Steve Borthwick tries to stay positive after their heavy loss to France.
“We came into the last week with a plan and unfortunately we weren’t able to implement that plan. I think part of that was due to ourselves. Part of that was due to a very good French team. Now we know that we are going into the game on Saturday, we know that we are playing against a superb team.”
Borthwick believes his side are capable of bouncing back, even against the league-leading Irish side at home.
“Obviously the performance needs to improve considerably from last week and we know we are playing against the best team in the world. So what a way to test ourselves in what is going to be a fantastic atmosphere,” he said. he declared.
The pressure is on Steve Borthwick’s England team
“I clearly think Ireland are a very well organized and trained team, have worked together for a number of seasons now, so we know we’re going to have to be very good in all aspects of the game to compete and put ourselves in position. to win the test match.
“Our job this week has been to keep trying to accelerate our development. We have a lot of catching up to do and we want to accelerate it.
“We are delighted with this game. We know they are a very good team.”
But he added: “We also have a lot of good players in our squad.”