'Borthwick relaxed but defiant amid England Six Nations slide'
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What has gone wrong for England this Six Nations?
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It is the obvious question to ask after two chastening defeats which have ended any prospect of a first title since 2020.
However, every England fan can see what has gone wrong for Steve Borthwick's side: they are not scoring enough points and are conceding far too many.
The aerial game is not working and players who were so composed and accurate during a 12-match winning streak are making consistent and uncharacteristic errors – whether in terms of decision-making, discipline or execution of skills.
So instead of asking what has gone wrong, the question is more why has it gone wrong? And how will England put it right against Italy and France over the next two rounds?
Sitting in unseasonably warm February sunshine at the team's Bagshot training base, head coach Steve Borthwick was in a relaxed but defiant mood as he tried to provide some answers - and some solutions - to England's alarming slide.
The England boss has highlighted three areas where his team were exposed by Ireland in the record 42-21 loss in London - profligacy in the opposition 22, the gifting of turnover ball to the Irish, and, perhaps most glaringly, a lack of physical intensity.
"We had plenty of chances to score in the first 20 minutes. And if you don't take your chances in Test match rugby it can be very cruel," Borthwick explained.
"Secondly, we turned over too many balls, creating unstructured opportunities for Ireland to attack from, which makes it very, very hard to defend. So we put ourselves in a vulnerable position.
"And thirdly, and probably most importantly, the intensity that has become a trademark of the team - it wasn't at the level we have set for ourselves."
For Borthwick, the three are inter-linked. A failure to exert scoreboard pressure led to a snowball effect and a game that was quickly out of reach. Physically, England were slow in terms of both thought and deed.
"We failed to take those opportunities and the opposition take their opportunities and suddenly there is scoreboard pressure against you," he added.
"That is clearly an area of development for us."
But how do you fix this? There had been an expectation that England would be smarting after the Calcutta Cup defeat, and would put it right against Ireland. Instead, the opposite happened.
Borthwick has pledged to raise the bar in training to prepare the group for the showdown in Rome, with a focus on sharpening their attacking edge in opposition territory.
"We have discussed all aspects of the preparation with the players. We need to drive even further what we are doing in training, and how hard we train. I think we can go further [in training]," he said.
"We need to be much more clinical and there are multiple factors involved [when it comes to finishing chances]. There is a mixture of the physicality needed in the collision area, with the composure you need to make those key decisions at the right time.
"We will be making sure we put the players in those positions as often as possible to ensure we get improvement."
England players under the microscope
Has complacency been an issue? Are England in the right place mentally?
Former England boss Eddie Jones has suggested that Borthwick's public pre-tournament ambition to compete for the title in Paris on the final day contributed to a lack of focus in the group, a claim the current head coach rejects.
"I discussed that you only get to that point [a title decider] by taking it one step at a time," Borthwick insisted.
"Our focus has been very much on one game at a time."
However, Borthwick says he is open-minded as he plots his selection to face the Azzurri.
There will need to be a change at scrum-half with Alex Mitchell ruled out, while centre Ollie Lawrence is missing training this week with a knee problem.
Elsewhere, George Furbank has returned to Northampton and will play in the Premiership Rugby Cup this weekend, and could provide a creative outlet from full-back if he proves his fitness with the Saints. Furbank's presence should help with England's blunt attack.
But few players who started the games in Edinburgh and at Twickenham have made a compelling case to keep their places. While always reluctant to make sweeping changes, Borthwick has not ruled out wielding the axe.
Everyone in the squad will now be under the microscope, whether in England training or beyond.
"In some positions the squad is fiercely competitive," he said. "I have got some tough decisions to make there.
"I will be watching the players, watching how they train, watching how they perform, watching the players who are returning to their clubs this weekend to get game time and watching how they play."
'Disappointment and frustration'
Borthwick has sought inspiration from the World Cup-winning crop of 2003 in a fallow week, with nine of that all-conquering group spending Wednesday evening in camp in a meeting arranged in advance of the Six Nations.
"The players from the 2003 squad performed under incredible pressure, but had numerous setbacks and numerous tough losses," he said.
Now the pressure is ratcheting up on the class of 2026. England have never lost to Italy in the Championship's 26-year history.
"There is always expectation on the England team. Always," Borthwick said.
"Our expectation on ourselves is really high and I don't think our performance levels have come to what we expect of ourselves over the last two weeks.
"Did we want these two losses? Absolutely not. Did we want the performances to be better? Yes, absolutely. I feel that disappointment and frustration more than anybody else. I am deeply passionate about this team.
"What we will do is make sure we move forward from this point and we will make sure we put in a level of performance that steps up next week."
In a further comment on his Rugby Unity podcast, Jones mused that the atmosphere at the final whistle at the Allianz Stadium after the Ireland defeat reminded him of the fraught end to his seven-year tenure in 2022.
So is Borthwick's job under threat? At the moment, no. It is too early for talk of that. It is just two games, albeit bad ones, following an impressive 12-match winning streak.
Borthwick is deep in planning for the 2027 World Cup and the RFU is firmly behind that project.
However, not only has no England side ever lost in Rome, but never before have England ended a Six Nations campaign with a single win. Two more defeats would lead to some very serious conversations in the corridors of Twickenham.
After the Calcutta Cup victory at Murrayfield, Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu spoke to the BBC with searing honesty. He said the team owed under-pressure boss Gregor Townsend a performance to quieten the noise around his future. According to Tuipulotu, they did it for Townsend.
The next two weeks would be a good time for the England players to do similar for their head coach.