Steve Borthwick: RFU backs England coach despite 'hugely disappointing' run

Realistically the RFU was unlikely to do anything but back the regime with one game still to play in the Six Nations.

However, those at the top of English rugby are not minded to sack Borthwick. If they were, they could have kept quiet and let speculation build this week.

While this vote of confidence will help with the noise around Borthwick’s position, the questions about the short-, medium- and long-term direction of travel still remain.

England are in a hole. Despite all the talk after the Ireland game about taking their chances and building scoreboard pressure, the side look bereft of confidence with the ball, they are panicking in defence and losing discipline, and the reversion to the kicking game as the default option has made them predictable and easy to play against.

That lack of confidence is mirrored in the coaching box, with Borthwick reluctant to trust his replacements in Rome, despite how well the bench did for him in the autumn.

The RFU has promised an open inquest into what has gone wrong and, regardless of what happens in Paris – and a victory appears fanciful – this needs to be forensic.

Is the leadership group strong enough? Is Borthwick setting his team up well enough? Are his assistant coaches delivering? And, crucially, do the players still believe in the management?

Even if Borthwick is backed to lead England through to the World Cup in 2027, he needs to mend a team that look broken.

In the summer of 2023 and the autumn of 2024, Borthwick was under the pump but managed to turn it around.

Can he do it for a third time?