Injury crises and Borthwick under scrutiny: it’s that time of year again for England rugby

Several things are increasingly guaranteed from an English rugby perspective around this time of year. Bang on cue the injury news and the weather both start to worsen. Cracks in the relationship between the players and their head coach, in this case Steve Borthwick, begin to surface. And as the crowds stream up from Twickenham railway station past the biltong and burger stalls, no one has much idea what to expect.

This year it has been the same old story. Particularly on the injury front. If Tom Curry, Alex Mitchell and Archie McParland had not all been hurt on the Bagshot training pitch, all three would probably be in England’s matchday 23. With Guy Pepper, Benhard van Rensburg, Sam Underhill, Kepu Tuipulotu and Chandler Cunningham-South also out of the running, the squad is not quite as fizzing with energy and dynamism as it might be.

And Borthwick, not for the first time, is back under scrutiny. According to a well-sourced report in the Times, his players sought a clear-the-air meeting in Argentina in July having allegedly grown unhappy with the former England captain’s man management and lack of empathy. It makes Sunday’s opening Nations Championship Test against Australia even more of a must-win game than was already the case.

All this, ironically, in the same week that the Rugby Football Union restated its desire for Borthwick to remain in his post through to the World Cup. Perhaps officials got wind of the impending story. Or, again not for the first time, maybe the chief executive, Bill Sweeney, has once more backed the wrong horse, having jettisoned Eddie Jones barely nine months before the last World Cup.

What a diplomatic mess, albeit a wearily familiar one. It had already been a curious week before these latest allegations surfaced. Sweeney even mentioned a stat suggesting England are the world’s second-best side when they keep 15 players on the field but only eighth or ninth when down to 14 or fewer. No shit, Sherlock. More pertinent, surely, is how England become sufficiently composed under pressure to avoid leaking costly penalties or cards.

Back in Santiago del Estero in July Borthwick opted to blame the “negativity committee” in the media for raising the subject after the game. Given his team had just lost four men to the sin-bin in the second half and barely clung on to win, it felt distinctly odd at the time. Given the newly reported context it now makes more sense.

The truth, then and now, is that something doesn’t feel entirely right about England, whether it be elements of the gameplan, the coaching blend, certain selections, cultural alignment or all of the above. They certainly need to find an urgent cure for the rampaging yellow fever that has cost them 14 yellow cards, plus one red, in 2026 to date. When they are in control of their own destiny, as opposed to scrambling desperately in their own 22, rugby becomes a different game.

This same fixture 12 months ago was, by the end, a prime example. Australia arrived tired and lacking a few key men and the home side, with six British & Irish Lions arriving off the bench, stretched clear to record a comfortable 25-7 win, the highlight being an eye-catching score from – who else? – Henry Pollock.

That result also extended England’s winning run to eight Tests. This year, though, their star has waned significantly, with only two wins – against a below-par Fiji and the Pumas – in their past seven Tests. Which is what has lent an extra frisson to this November even before the RFU’s “nothing to see here” messaging.

What price such corporate froth on Monday morning should Australia get up as they so memorably did in London in 2024? Or if Japan and Jones, having lost only 35-32 to the Wallabies in August, also take a sharp Samurai sword to English pretensions next Saturday? Staging the Nations Championship finals weekend at Allianz Stadium is all fine and dandy until the party hosts find themselves locked out in the communal hallway while the proper action is going on inside.

The alternative scenario, of course, involves the Wallabies being splattered across the sweet chariot’s windshield, the Brave Blossoms being scrummaged and mauled off the park and the All Blacks being turned over for the second successive autumn. If France, Ireland and Scotland all have a mixed month it is still possible Borthwick’s unhappy campers could make the inaugural Nations Championship final and enter 2027 with rather more in the way of optimism.

Place your chips and roll those dice. The midterm elections in the US have also just underlined how radically things can alter virtually overnight. But if England’s men want to rank among the world’s leading four teams again, let alone the top two, they need to find some kind of positive injection next year, whether in terms of selection, personnel or fresh coaching ideas.

It may not matter on Sunday if England’s front five get an early grip, the outstanding Fraser McReight is countered at the breakdown and the Wallabies are mauled halfway back to Wollongong but there is a bigger picture to be considered as well. Among other things, Borthwick is taking a calculated gamble on senior men such as Jamie George, 36, and Luke Cowan-Dickie, 33, staying fit for another 12 months while Henry Slade is 34 in March.

There remains the nagging worry, too, that the squad’s preparations have been shorter compared with previous years. Whether that has contributed in any way to the training ground injury toll is unclear but Australia’s recent contests against New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina have left them more battle-hardened. Borthwick, furthermore, believes the high-scoring rugby seen in the early rounds of the Prem is not necessarily assisting the national cause and he probably has a point. Then again, having a host of players plying their trade in Japan didn’t hold back Rassie Erasmus’s World Cup-winning Springboks. England, either way, need to stop looking for peripheral excuses and focus on what they can control. Surely there will not be a breathless replay of two years ago when England missed 35 tackles and ended up losing 42-37.

This time, having rejected Shaun Edwards’ offer to assist his side’s defence, Borthwick will be desperate for a 15-man England to keep calm and carry on grafting. If you were to offer him a pressure-relieving three-point win now, he’d bite your hand off somewhere near the elbow.