We will be better for this pain, says England coach Steve Borthwick

LONDON – England coach Steve Borthwick said that yet another painful defeat, this time 29-20 by South Africa on Nov 16, will help his team in the long run as they continue their development.

His team played well in parts and, for the sixth straight game against top-tier opposition, they led late on, only to lose.

England’s 20-19 lead after 52 minutes was a brief flicker, as a second try for the brilliant Cheslin Kolbe of the Springboks just after the hour put the nail in the coffin.

“I think this adversity will be good for the team. These are challenging days, the development days for us, it’s painful,” Borthwick said after England lost three in a row at home for the first time since 2006 to leave their 2024 record as a paltry four wins from 11 games.

“We are playing against very, very good teams and you have to credit them. In that last part today we had plenty of opportunities, but small lapses end up being hugely significant.

“Against a world-class team and back-to-back world champions, I think what’s important is that (we were) in a position to be ahead on the scoreboard against very, very good opposition.”

Borthwick stuck to his theme that his developmental team are doing well to push the giants of the sport, even though the previous defeat came against an Australia side who had lost five of their six Rugby Championship games.

“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,” he added.

“It’s also transitioning the way we’re trying to play. You can see when the team move the ball, you see just the talent that we have and the pace that we have.”

England did play with a lot more ball-in-hand ambition than in the tense, kick-dominated World Cup semi-final loss to the Springboks in 2023, and scored two excellent tries through Ollie Sleightholme and Sam Underhill.

Henry Slade then crossed for a third that would have put them ahead 10 minutes into the second half, only for it to be ruled out for foul play by Maro Itoje.

That proved to be as close as they came to piercing the Springbok defence again as their early creativity dried up.

South Africa outscored England four tries to two, but coach Rassie Erasmus insisted: “The score didn’t reflect how close the game was. It was competitive as hell.”

England finish their year against Japan on Nov 24, when anything but a hefty win would leave Borthwick under huge pressure. They have never lost to Japan and will, despite November’s reverses, be firm favourites.

“I’m very confident we are on the right path,” said Borthwick ahead of a match against a Japan team coached by his England predecessor and mentor Eddie Jones.

“We want things to happen now. We aim to put in a better performance against Japan when we’re back here next Sunday.”
REUTERS, AFP