Category: England Rugby

• England captain expresses fears over paywall plans
• ‘Rugby needs more eyes on it, not less’

The England captain, Maro Itoje, has called for Six Nations organisers to keep the championship on free-to-air TV on the grounds that rugby union needs more exposure, amid fears the championship will disappear behind a paywall next season.

Itoje, who leads England for the first time in Saturday’s Six Nations clash with Ireland in Dublin, issued an impassioned plea, pointing to how he grew up watching the championship on the BBC and ITV.

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• Centre says there will be less emphasis on blitz
• ‘We know what we’re doing. That’s a step forward’

Henry Slade believes England have taken significant strides to fix their defensive frailties on the basis that “we know what we’re doing”, with the players adopting a more hands-on approach following a disappointing autumn.

Slade is the first senior player to admit England had difficulties getting up to speed during a “rushed” transition to the defensive system employed by Joe El-Abd, who was parachuted into the setup for the November international series after the shock resignation of Felix Jones.

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Card tricks are not the only sleight of hand the Northampton flyer will hope to show as Saturday’s opening Six Nations contest against Ireland looms

When the moment is right Tommy Freeman still loves performing the magic card tricks he first learned at school in Suffolk. It is always fun finding fresh “victims” and on the Eurostar back from an away game in Paris this month it was the turn of Northampton’s young scrum‑half Archie McParland to be left open-mouthed by his teammate’s sleight of hand.

Now you see it, now you don’t. Coincidentally that happens to be Freeman’s super-strength on a rugby field as well. His club coach, Sam Vesty, long ago spotted him as the type of player who makes most impact when he backs his instincts. A keen hockey player in his youth, Freeman possesses the spatial awareness to pop up in places his opponents are not anticipating.

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• Full-back says new rule gives fans value for money
• Steward studies Australian Rules Football for technique

Freddie Steward has praised the Six Nations’ decision to introduce 20-minute red cards in this season’s championship, hailing it as “good for the game”. The England full-back was shown a red card against Ireland in Dublin two years ago which was subsequently rescinded and he believes the game’s increasingly fine margins makes the new initiative a fairer solution.

Under the new approach, England would now be able to replace Steward with another player after 20 minutes rather than having to play the rest of the match at a numerical disadvantage. “The bunker stuff is really good,” insisted Steward. “It has such a significant impact on Test matches, as you saw in that game. It needs to be the right decision because it shapes campaigns for teams. You can lose games on a decision. It really kills you. I am glad they have taken strides to get it right.”

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The centre on why England believe they can beat Ireland in their Six Nations opener and how his apology to fans over Alex Mitchell incident backfired

“That’s a good question,” Ollie Lawrence says as he ponders the reasons why England have lost five of their previous six Tests, even though they were in a position to turn each of those defeats into a precious victory. “I think if I had the answer to that then … ”

The Bath and England centre pauses, lost in thought, and then laughs when I suggest that if he could reel off an immediate answer he would be on his way to becoming Test rugby’s next head coach. “Exactly. I think the main thing for us is seeing off games. We’ve been in the lead, or in a position to win after 60 minutes, in all of those games. So it’s making sure we play the game fully from now on. We’ve hopefully learned our lessons and, going into this Six Nations campaign, we can push on and put things to bed when we’re in the lead.”

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• ‘We all love that an underdog can prove people wrong’
• Some players have suffered heavy defeats at club level

England’s players have been urged to jettison the mental baggage of heavy recent club defeats and start afresh when the Six Nations kicks off next week. The majority of the squad have endured at least one ­disappointing result since Christmas but the ­management hope it will intensify their collective desire to transform England’s fortunes over the next seven weeks.

While Leicester’s 80-12 drubbing in Toulouse and Saracens’ ­unscheduled home loss to a second-string ­Castres side last weekend have cast an ­inevitable shadow over England’s warm weather training camp on the Costa Brava, it has at least awoken Steve Borthwick’s players and coaches to the urgent need to raise their level if they are to enjoy a more productive Six Nations campaign.

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• CEO says even vote of no confidence will not get him out
• Sweeney distances himself from Borthwick appointment

Bill Sweeney has revealed he is determined to stay on as the Rugby Football Union’s chief executive until 2027 – even if he loses a forthcoming vote of no confidence – and refused to apologise for accepting a £358,000 bonus amid record losses and redundancies.

Sweeney also distanced himself from the appointment of Steve Borthwick as England head coach two years ago – the most significant decision of his tenure – on the eve of a make-or-break Six Nations campaign that could pile more pressure on the embattled chief executive.

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• Hooker joins number of players ruled out
• Alex Mitchell also a doubt for game in Dublin

England have been hit by the loss of their vice-captain, Jamie George, for their Six Nations opener against Ireland on 1 February, with Alex Mitchell also a doubt for the Dublin showdown. Hooker George suffered a hamstring injury in Saracens’ Champions Cup defeat by Castres on Sunday.

The Northampton scrum-half Mitchell sustained a knee problem against Munster on Saturday but could yet feature against Ireland after being taken to the squad’s pre-championship training camp in Girona to continue his rehabilitation.

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• Jones led England to three titles during tenure
• Tuipulotu ruled out of tournament for Scotland

Eddie Jones will cast a critical eye over England’s make-or-break Six Nations campaign with the former head coach signed as an ITV pundit for the forthcoming championship.

Jones was sacked as England head coach in late 2022 and was lined up for a TV job for the 2023 Six Nations, only to agree to an ill-fated spell in charge of Australia. Having left the ­Wallabies in November 2023, he returned to Japan for a second term at the helm of the Brave Blossoms but will join the ITV team for this year’s competition.

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Heavy defeats during the pool stage suggest Premiership teams lack the power of the best French and Irish sides

Five English clubs have made it beyond base camp in the Champions Cup this season, but scaling the distant summit already feels like an impossible dream. While Northampton, Saracens, Leicester, Sale and Harlequins have all secured qualification for the last 16, they will need something truly special if they are to make any kind of impact at the sharp end of the competition.

The sight of Leicester, one of the Premiership’s handful of pool survivors, enduring a record annihilation in Toulouse was just another stark reminder that the bigger French and Irish sides continue to be the tournament’s dominant forces. The last English club to win the title was Exeter in 2020 and there are few obvious signs of the gap closing.

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• Back problem forces 30-year-old to end rugby career
• ‘My body will carry a significant amount of deficiency’

The England and British & Irish Lions wing Anthony Watson has retired from rugby aged 30 on medical grounds, having been advised it was no longer safe to continue playing.

Watson, who brings the curtain down with 56 caps, has been beset by injuries of late with a debilitating back problem proving the final straw. Across a career that began with London Irish in 2011, Watson has been blighted by two long-term achilles layoffs, ACL surgery, more recent calf issues and the back injury that left him in “so much pain”.

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The captaincy is due reward for a fine player – but for Steve Borthwick, it comes with one or two risks attached

England no longer announce their new captains with a grand theatrical flourish. Back in 1996 Bath’s Phil de Glanville had to lie down in the back of the taxi taking him to Twickenham so no one could identify the skipper poised to replace Will Carling before he was unveiled dramatically from behind a large curtain like a nervous contestant in Stars in Their Eyes.

Fast forward to 2025 and Maro Itoje, the 136th man chosen to lead his country, was not even present for his inauguration. People like to talk about spreading the rugby gospel and here was another example of how not to do it. A good news story (if not for poor old Jamie George) and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Itoje to strike a smiling pose for the snappers and propel English rugby back on to the front pages? Nah, we’ll just stick out a bog-standard press release.

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• Coach praises ‘great leader’ who is ‘calm under pressure’
• Radical decision comes before make-or-break Six Nations

Maro Itoje will lead England into the Six Nations after Steve Borthwick made the radical decision to ditch Jamie George as captain and promote the second row before a campaign that promises to make or break the head coach’s tenure.

Borthwick said George was “disappointed” to lose the captaincy after only 12 months in what he described as a challenging conversation with the hooker but explained the decision to appoint Itoje was made on the basis that he is a “world‑class player who has the respect of everybody”.

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With Alex Mitchell back at scrum-half, England could turn opener in Dublin into start of successful campaign

Maybe Elon Musk is the man to revive English rugby union. He already believes he has the solutions to most of the universe’s biggest problems so reforming a mere sports team should be a piece of futuristic cake. Throw £40bn at it, take over the comms department and stick the Rugby Football Union’s finest on a rocket ship to Mars? It’s an easy game, megalomania.

Back in the real world, of course, nothing is ever quite that straightforward. Even AI cannot identify why England keep struggling to maximise their resources because there is no one simple explanation. As Steve Borthwick prepares to unveil his Six Nations squad on Tuesday, it is again less about the individuals per se than finding the right blend to enable the collective to flourish.

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• Recovery delayed by new England deal, says Rob Baxter
• Operation would rule him out of Six Nations

England’s Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is still in two minds about whether to undergo a shoulder operation that could affect his chances of representing the British & Irish Lions this summer. The Exeter wing is scheduled to have surgery next week, which would rule him out of the Six Nations and complicate his dream of touring Australia with the Lions.

Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, says the 22-year-old has not yet ruled out postponing the operation and can avoid recurring shoulder issues for the remainder of this season. A decision will need to be taken imminently, however, with Baxter suggesting extensive discussions between club and country are already delaying the process.

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