Steve Borthwick says the pain of England’s last-gasp defeat to France can drive them on to better times despite their unsuccessful Six Nations campaign. Borthwick’s side finished second bottom of this year’s table but came agonisingly close to dashing French title hopes before losing 48-46 in one of the all-time great championship fixtures.
Borthwick, who said he still believed he was “the right man to lead the team forward”, could not hide his disappointment after Thomas Ramos secured a last-gasp home victory with the final kick of an extraordinary game. “I’m really disappointed for the players and supporters … it was so close to being a special day,” he said.
“We came into the tournament with high aspirations and we’re really disappointed we haven’t been able to meet those targets. I know the supporters are hurting as well. Everyone involved with the team cares so deeply. I sense a determination to make sure this hurt makes the team stronger in the future. The team has gone through a tough spell in the last few weeks [but] it has a lot of growth in it. I believe this pain will be used to make the team stronger in the future. The way we played today is how we want to play going forward.”
The head coach did concede that his side’s discipline needed to improve – “When we keep 15 men on the field we look a very good team” – but questioned some of the second-half decisions that helped France back into the game. He was particularly irked by the buildup to Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s fourth try when England thought the referee had awarded them a penalty advantage and played on, only for the decision to be amended.
Borthwick described some of the yellow card calls against England in the championship as “debatable” and said he would be asking for some of the refereeing decisions in Paris “to be explained to me” by the game’s authorities. “The players on the pitch were told it was a penalty advantage,” he said, referring to the passage of play before Bielle-Biarrey’s final try.
“Unfortunately what happened in the background is that the TMO had changed it to a knock-on advantage. The players were unaware of it and then they go down the other end and score a try. I’ll be asking for those to be explained.”
Maro Itoje also remains adamant that England are a better team than they have shown in this year’s Six Nations. “I truly believe this team is going places,” the captain said. “We knew we had to be better at converting our territory to points and we did that. We’ve needed time from a training perspective to get everything right. I’m disappointed with the performances, but we’ll keep moving forward.”
France, meanwhile, saluted Ramos’s late title-clinching intervention which prevented Ireland from securing the trophy. “We’re very very lucky that we have maybe the best kicker around,” said Fabien Galthié, with the head coach also praising the prolific Bielle-Biarrey.
“He’s an unbelievable weapon. His contribution has been unbelievable. I’m short of words to describe him. I’m certain he will be chosen as the best player in the tournament. He’s following in Antoine’s wake.”