Six Nations: Will Greenwood expects RFU to stick with Steve Borthwick and lead England into 2027 World Cup

Former World Cup winner Will Greenwood says he expects England to stick with head coach Steve Borthwick despite a shocking Six Nations campaign.

After an emphatic opening-round win over Wales extended England’s winning streak to 12 matches, Borthwick’s side imploded and lost their remaining four games.

The team was criticised for kicking too much, inviting pressure on themselves and not being clinical or composed as they ultimately conceded 55 penalties, nine yellow cards and a red.

England did come alive on Saturday night against eventual champions France in Paris, outscoring their rivals on the try count 7-6 by showing intent and ambition with ball in hand, despite a last-gasp defeat.

It was not enough to prevent a fourth consecutive loss and they still face fundamental questions over the alarming collapse in form following the Wales win.

Despite the turbulent campaign, Greenwood expects Borthwick to be in charge of the Nations Cup tournament this summer, then lead England into the World Cup scheduled to take place in Australia from October 1 to November 13 2027.

“I would be reasonably confident that the RFU will make a decision that they see enough that he will lead England to the World Cup in 2027,” he told Sky Sports.

“Borthwick has beaten all the top sides but the worry for me is just the inability to go back-to back-to-back. To go toe-to-toe and win consistently against the best sides, that’s the question mark hanging over his head.”

‘Fitting finale for best Six Nations ever’

Speaking to Sky Sports, Will Greenwood said: “It was the best Six Nations finale ever. When you go to the last kick, yes! I think as a whole the Six Nations is always an amazing tournament but there’s always moments where you think ‘which was the best Championship?’

“It was categorically the best ending to a Championship but if you’re looking at it from England’s perspective you think it’s probably one of the worst ones we’ve ever had.

“Have England gone majorly backwards? No, what they’ve done is stand still and everyone else – even Wales – have made progress. That’s the most disappointing thing!

“England… what’s just happened? Why can you perform like that on the final Saturday and against Wales on the opening Saturday but look mediocre at best for the other three games?”

Regarding England’s discipline, Greenwood said: “We gave away as many yellow cards as Italy did in 2002 when they were just coming in. Sides who are under pressure, sides who are rattled, frazzled mentally, physically, and that’s where Italy was at the start of the noughties. To go back there is pretty damning actually.

“It was like watching a Kevin Keegan team against France! We score one, you score one. Who cares about defending. And in the end the victory was taken away by two penalties conceded in injury time and Thomas Ramos got to choose which position he would like to take the kick from and it just suited his eyeline.

“It’s an area that needs looking at. The lads aren’t trying to be daft. You give away penalties when a team puts you under pressure and defensively you can’t cope with it.

“When a team plays with speed and as a group you can’t stay connected, so you try your best to fix it but instead make an absolute horlicks of it.”

England’s Six Nations results

England 48-7 Wales
Scotland 31-20 England
England 21-42 Ireland
Italy 23-18 England
France 48-46 England

What questions will the RFU review hold?

Sky Sports’ James Cole goes through what steps to expect from the RFU review following England’s poor Six Nations performance.

The RFU will hold a post-tournament review to try and work out how a side can go from winning 12 games on the bounce to losing four.

This end of tournament review is standard practice but it takes an added importance because of England’s poor campaign.

It’ll be led by RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney but it’ll involve figures both inside and outside the organisation.

They’ll question players and coaching staff and I think the key question they’ll want to get the answer to is ‘are the players still on board with Borthwick and the coaching staff’s philosophy? Do they still have the players backing?’

We saw after defeat in France players come out and unequivocally back Steve Borthwick.

If that is indeed the mood behind closed doors then the RFU will need to figure out what’s gone wrong in terms of the coaching balance, the culture within the group, their approach to training, all of these things that add up.

Or is it simply a matter of players taking responsibility? There will be a lot of credit in the bank for Steve Borthwick. He has evolved this team before the Six Nations started. They won 11 on the bounce.

They were one of the favourites to pick up the title. It’s the way it’s unravelled and how it’s unravelled so quickly, that is the concern. The response from the RFU will be a measured one.

Those 12 wins in a row included victories over Australia, New Zealand and France and we saw on Saturday night that on their day England can compete with the best sides in the world.

The question is what needs to change or be refined in order for that level of performance to be consistent come the Rugby World Cup in Australia next year.