Veteran hooker Jamie George says England ‘”will be right up there with the favourites to win the World Cup” under Steve Borthwick’s leadership.
A Rugby Football Union review into their disappointing Six Nations performance will begin in the coming days with the head coach under scrutiny after his side finished fifth in the table.
England won only one of their five matches – a 48-7 thrashing of Wooden Spoon ‘winners’ Wales in the opening round – and lost four games for the first time in Six Nations history.
A much-improved England then came within a final play of beating eventual champions France in Paris on Saturday, only to be denied by Thomas Ramos’ match-winning penalty with the clock deep in the red.
A group of senior rugby figures, drawn from inside and outside the RFU, will collect feedback from coaches and players about what went wrong over the next few weeks.
Defending champions South Africa and France are the current favourites to win the 2027 World Cup, which is due to start in Australia in October, but George backed Borthwick to find the solutions to England’s problems to make them contenders.
“Steve is one of the best coaches I’ve ever worked under,” said the British and Irish Lions hooker, 35.
“Under Steve I think we will be right up there with the favourites to win the World Cup. We’re a great team, a great group of players and he’s the perfect person to take us there.
“He has been unbelievable for English rugby. It’s crazy what has been happening over the last few weeks and he is absolutely the right man to lead us forward for a long time.
“That’s because he’s an English coach who cares so much about this game, but he’s also a very, very good coach who has created an excellent programme. When you combine that with a good group of players it’s a recipe for success.
“It hasn’t been where it has needed to be over the last few weeks, but the excellent thing about Steve is that we will have answers.”
