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15 hours ago
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Steve Borthwick praised his team’s resilience and composure as England secured their eighth Test win in a row, beating Australia 25-7 in a soggy contest. England bossed the match, scoring four tries to one, and dominated the skies as both teams reverted to a kicking battle.
Even though Borthwick lamented a lack of accuracy in the wide channels, citing numerous line-breaks that were left unconverted, he was pleased with the control his players maintained. “There was a period where the game was tight in very difficult conditions against an Australian side that are tough and really well drilled,” he said.
“But as I watched our team, I thought they were really composed, really composed and knew what to do next. The players were really clear on what they were attempting to do.”
Along with scores from Ben Earl, Alex Mitchell and Luke Cowan-Dickie, on his 50th appearance for his country, Henry Pollock dotted down in a player-of-the-match performance off the bench. One of six British & Irish Lions among the replacements, Pollock injected energy and pace in the closing stages.
“He’s a ball of energy,” Borthwick said of Pollock, who scored his third England try in his fifth match. “I love having that character in the squad. We’ve got a great blend of personalities developing within the team.”
The No 8 came on after 51 minutes along with four other forwards. South Africa’s Springboks have won two World Cups with a similar tactic, known as the Bomb Squad, while France have also adopted this ploy.
Maro Itoje was asked if England had come up with a nickname for their grouping. “I don’t think so,” said the captain. “The guys who came off the bench were fantastic. You always want the guys to come off the bench to add and pick up the energy, pick up the intensity of the team, and they definitely did that. They were all, to a man, fantastic.”
Last season, England made a habit of letting leads slip as they lost several games late on. “Finishing games off, there’s a number of factors that come to finishing those games off,” Borthwick said. “Sometimes you go through some painful experiences. But this is a squad that is eager to learn. So we’ll address those issues we can learn from. And there’ll be plenty when we review it, we could do better. So the aim is to be a better team next Saturday.”
Australia’s coach, Joe Schmidt, cut a frustrated figure and conceded that England’s bench proved to be the difference between the sides. “They really did step up the level of intensity and the physical combat that they brought,” he said. “Until that time, the game was really wellbalanced.”
The Wallabies’ captain, Harry Wilson, gave credit to England’s pack, putting it on par with those of the Springboks and New Zealand, but blamed his own side’s wastefulness for the result. “We were a team that prides ourselves on being quite accurate there and a few of us definitely let the team down there, and we just weren’t as accurate throughout the whole game,” he said.
