The review will follow England's final-round match against France on Saturday, as the team has suffered successive defeats by Scotland, Ireland, and Italy in the tournament. The loss to Italy was particularly historic, marking the first ever defeat to the Azzurri, who had lost their previous 32 games against England before winning 23-18 in Rome. Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney acknowledged the disappointment, stating that after a 12-match winning run, the past three results have been hugely disappointing.
He added that Steve Borthwick and his coaching team are working tirelessly to make improvements, and the RFU remains fully committed to supporting them and the players. Sweeney emphasized that part of the support involves being open about what went wrong and working together to understand and rectify why expectations were not met. In response to the setbacks, Steve Borthwick, the 46-year-old coach, defended his record and the team's direction after the loss to Italy.
Absolutely.
He stated that he remains absolutely confident, acknowledging it is a tough period but vowing to learn from it and make the team stronger going forward. The specific aspects of the Six Nations campaign to be examined in the review have not been detailed, nor have the concrete changes Borthwick and his coaching team will implement. It remains unclear how the RFU's support will translate into tangible results or what expectations are for England's performance against France, as the team works to address underlying issues from the three successive defeats.
Right now this is a tough period, but what we will do is learn from it and make sure we are stronger going forward.
It is tough right now and we are not hiding away from the fact it is tough.