Steve Borthwick ‘incredibly disappointed’ with England Six Nations performance vs France, saying team are ‘hurting’ after ‘stark reality’ | Rugby Union News

England’s Steve Borthwick spoke after his team’s record defeat at Twickenham, losing 53-10 to France in the Six Nations; Borthwick said he was “incredibly disappointed,” that the team played “poorly” and “painfully”; The coach said the display showed just how far he is competing for the British title

Steve Borthwick said he was “deeply disappointed” by England’s record-breaking defeat to France at Twickenham in the Six Nations, adding he was “pained” after the defeat showed “the stark reality”.

France secured their first Six Nations victory at Twickenham since 2005 on Saturday as their efficiency and ruthless power against an error-ridden England brought them to a 53-10 success.

England conceded six tries in the defeat, and Borthwick admitted there was nothing he could do from the day.

“We are very disappointed with the performance,” he said at the post-match press conference.

“There is no illusion about what we have to do. I think we have made enough progress in everything. Today just shows, in real reality, what it is about.

“We collapsed a lot, that’s a fact. My job is to make sure we learn and be faster than the other teams. We have to find a way to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“We are incredibly disappointed. We wanted to put on a great performance for the supporters today, and we were not able to do it. And that hurt us, and I’m sure it hurt the supporters too.

“There will be no shortage of hard work to get out of this.”

Borthwick said the performance showed just how far from the top of world rugby the English team is

After watching France race into a 22-3 lead in the first half, England clawed back the game to 22-10 early in the second half through a Freddie Steward try, before being pegged back after the visitors’ power and accuracy.

Borthwick was clear that his display showed just how far the England team’s title contenders have come.

“Big credit to the French team, their strength, pace and class shows, and shows where the gap is.

“They played very well, we played well. We have to learn from it and get better. We know where we are, and we have been shown how much work we have to do.

“Today we played the second best team in the world, and they showed that they are better than ever, and next week we play Ireland who are the best team in the world.

“We have a good understanding of where we are as a team, and you can see how much work we have to do.

France beat England in almost every department, scoring 53 points at Twickenham

“If you play a game and you lose the collision like now, and give the opposition fast-balls and offloads, and you lose in the attack, where you can not produce fast-ball with problems in the breakdown. , it is difficult to get a foothold in the game and that exactly today.

“We’re going to commit ourselves in every way shape or form to make sure we do our best. That’s what we’re going to do.

“Now, what is clear is that while we have a plan today to reduce the power, we did not do enough and made mistakes. We have to go and make sure we know what went wrong, and how we’re better at the challenges that will go forward .”