The release of the RFU’s findings following their review into England’s poor Six Nations campaign was as predictable as it was disappointing.
In fact, I find the review process itself more disappointing than England’s fifth-place finish. Real leadership would have seen Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, announce that Steve Borthwick was being backed as England head coach immediately after the Six Nations defeat by France in Paris.
Sweeney should have made it clear that recent results were not good enough, but there was no need to overreact and the RFU would be supporting Borthwick to lead the team into the 2027 World Cup.
My issues with this culture of anonymous reviews are twofold. First, and most importantly, there should not have been a need for a review at all. Sweeney and the RFU leadership should already know what is going on.
There should be a qualified director of rugby at the RFU who, like Borthwick, is responsible for the team’s performance. They do not need to be in a tracksuit and on the paddock day to day. It’s important to be one step removed. That individual, in effect, would be conducting a constant review of the team by supporting, pushing and challenging Borthwick and his coaching team. They should report to the RFU board so everyone knows exactly what is going on.
The RFU talks openly of conducting reviews after every major campaign. This is ineffective. In the time taken to uncover what went wrong, the tournament has come and gone (and been lost).
It is an insult to England coach Steve Borthwick to have to wait for Bill Sweeney and his RFU chums to make a decision on his future based on a ‘review’
England had a horror Six Nations, winning just one match and losing four. They were only saved from the wooden spoon by points difference
All you achieve is to question the credibility of your head coach. Elite sport moves fast. Solutions for fixing the 2026 Six Nations will not necessarily suffice for South Africa away in July, just like the recipe for winning 12 matches in a row did nothing to guarantee success in the Six Nations.
High performance is an evolution and end-of-term reviews are too slow. I did not expect the RFU to share anything meaningful. But I did chuckle when I saw the line about England’s performance being undermined by ‘discipline, execution of opportunities and making the most of key moments’.
This was obvious in February. What have they been talking about for two months?
Equally, the idea that the RFU were aware communication needs to improve with the public is just PR speak. The only communication the team needs to worry about is what the scoreboard says.
With real elite performance leadership, there would be no need for reviews. You already know what is happening and you either crack on or you make changes. But you do it quickly and without putting the most important figure – Borthwick – on the hook.
The RFU love a review because it offers zero accountability. This brings me to my next point. I am embarrassed for those people involved in the decision-making who want to remain anonymous. How can we trust a process when those involved aren’t willing to put their name to it?
Borthwick, his coaches, and the players have taken heaps of stick. Why should they play judge, jury, and possible executioner without any of the same responsibility? How can you call yourself an expert if you are not willing to be accountable?
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney has been leading the review into England’s Six Nations performance
I would love to know what the focus of the review was and who set that agenda? It looks as though it was centred around on-field performance.
Yes, plenty can be improved there – including the team’s ambition, selection and kicking game, to name a few. But that is for Borthwick and his coaches. Nobody at the RFU is qualified to speak on this and neither is any anonymous committee because they’re just not close enough to the action.
The review I would like to see is this: Why have three former PREM clubs gone into administration? Why do we still only select players based at home and then accept them sitting on the bench in favour of overseas players?
Why is there no relegation, creating meaningless games? Why have we allowed a cosy environment with central contracts that all but guarantees players England selection? Why do our top players exceed, or come close to exceeding, the number of games they are supposed to play in a given year?
They are problems affecting England performance that nobody seems to be looking at. Amazingly, in the room next door, the women’s team is dominating the world stage because they are set up to do so. They outperform every other side long before they step on to the field, but the men’s team is held back.
That is entirely of the RFU’s own making. They should have either decided to hire or fire Borthwick within a week of the France game. Instead, he’s had to endure weeks of purgatory, not helping him to focus on the task at hand which is simply the next game – South Africa in Johannesburg on July 4.
The line from the review that pained me the most was ‘Steve has engaged in this process with full openness’. It made him sound like a suspect co-operating with the police! He deserves better than that. In sport and in business you have to think about how everything is perceived by your opposition. What will the rest of the world think?
England even lost to Italy during the Six Nations, the first time they have been beaten by the Azzurri
England’s Luke Cowan-Dickie can’t bear to look after his side’s defeat in Rome
Do England really look more dangerous coming out of this in the eyes of France, Ireland and South Africa? While it will clearly be a mammoth task to beat the Springboks in their own backyard, England can deliver a result. They have the players and coaches to do so.
But I worry that the weeks that have passed since the France game – during which Borthwick would have been unclear on his future – have not allowed him to properly move on and focus on beating the Springboks.
I hope now he can, but time is of the essence. In the next two campaigns, I’d like to see Borthwick nail his colours to the mast in terms of his starting XV. England have the players. They can win in South Africa and if they do, then all the disappointment of the Six Nations will be forgotten.
As I say, elite sport moves fast. But if it happens, it will be despite the RFU not because of them. Their needless review has once again not helped anyone.