According to former England hooker Brian Moore, there’s been a shortfall in the performance of the international side under the leadership of Steve Borthwick.
Moore has voiced apprehensions over fans’ diminishing confidence in the coach’s assertions, noting a lack of the dynamic rugby flair pledged over a year ago
The former hooker wrote in his column for The: “Anyone who has followed England under Borthwick ought to know by now that pre-match comments about entertaining and igniting a crowd should not be taken at face value.
“They mean nothing without the execution being right and it is here that England have to show on Saturday that people are right to keep the faith.
“As it stands, it is difficult to make a case that England have made genuine and lasting improvements under Borthwick. However uncomfortable this is for those directly connected with the England team, the evidence is simply not there.”
Moore added: “You have to hope that the litany of very basic handling errors that England committed against Scotland was a simple aberration but until England put together a coherent 80 minutes of play, the noises of discontent are going to grow.
“Attack is a longer term problem for any side to solve. It is more difficult to coach and to practise without real game-time pressure, but Daniel Schofield was right when he concluded “the more he [Borthwick] repeats this as a mantra, the greater the risk that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy”.”
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ODDS: Who could replace Steve Borthwick at Twickenham?
5. Sir Clive Woodward – 20/1
Woodward is the World Cup winning Head Coach who led England’s rugby players to World Cup glory in Australia in 2003.
A former England International and British & Irish Lion himself, prior to his full time coaching career Clive established a successful business career working for nine years with Xerox in the UK and Australia before establishing his own small finance and leasing company.
During Clive’s tenure as Head Coach England moved from 6th in the world to being the number one ranked team, winning every trophy an England team can win.
4. Rob Baxter – 12/1
Rob Baxter, who guided the Devon-based club from the Championship to European champions in 10 years has done this largely with a core of players that have come through the academy at Exeter.
With this season’s club performance not at the level of previous years, it may be time for him to move on and into the Test game in the near futuree.
Although Baxter joined the England coaching team for the summer tour to Argentina and Uruguay in March 2013, he has no experience outside of Exeter. “I would be happy to have a chat about what the role is, how they see it working and what their plans and ambitions are,” Baxter said of the England job back in December.
“Unless you know what it is, it’s hard to say yes or no to anything. At the same time, I’m not looking for another job! I’m very happy here,” he added.
