Eddie Jones blames England’s Six Nations collapse on Steve Borthwick’s pre-tournament comments

Eddie Jones has attributed England’s recent dramatic collapse in the Guinness Six Nations to what he perceives as Steve Borthwick’s premature focus on a potential title decider against France, even before the tournament had commenced.

Successive and emphatic defeats to Scotland and Ireland have swiftly unravelled the progress made during a previous 12-Test winning streak, transforming the upcoming round-four fixture against Italy in Rome on 7 March into a critical must-win encounter.

This scenario starkly contrasts with the vision Borthwick outlined when announcing his Six Nations squad last month.

"On March 14 in Paris, we want to be in a position entering that game where we can achieve what we’re all aiming to achieve," the head coach stated on 23 January.

"We want England fans flooding across the Channel to Paris to watch the team in a massive encounter in the final round with the opportunity to achieve what we want."

Jones, who served as England boss from 2016-2022 before Borthwick’s tenure, has questioned whether the Rugby Football Union (RFU) might have influenced these remarks.

"I’ll go back to the start of the Six Nations. I thought Steve made some very uncharacteristic comments about a title-decider against France, looking ahead," Jones told the Rugby Unity podcast.

"Steve is the most pragmatic and intelligent coach you could meet, but to look ahead for any team is fraught with danger. We all know that."

He suggested external pressure could have played a role: "But sometimes the pressure comes so that the union, the RFU, wants to hear more. They want to entice the fans because they’re all hungry for money so they want fans support. So be bold, come out – someone has told him to do that."

Jones believes such comments can inadvertently distract players. "

The players read everything, the wives read everything, the girlfriends read everything, the boyfriends read everything, they all read it," he explained.

"They hear that and they talk to them and they say, ‘We’ve got to get our tickets for France. Where are we staying? Where are we going to go the night before for dinner?’ All of that happens and the slight psychological change you get in the team because of that, they start to look ahead."

The former coach insists that the 31-20 mauling at Murrayfield, where England conceded an early 17-0 deficit, left a lasting "mental scar" that subsequently impacted their performance in the five-try rout by Ireland.

"They got caught on the hop against Scotland. The Scotland game against Wales shows that they were just caught on the hop," Jones said.

"That was a one-off, but now that one-off has crept into their psyche. They’re disappointed about where they are and they’re all feeling a bit threatened now."

He concluded by emphasising the need for strong leadership to navigate the current challenges: "How do you change it around? It takes leadership on and off the field."

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