England head coach Steve Borthwick has claimed that his players were not fit enough coming into the Autumn Nation Series despite the Rugby Football Union spending £264 million to give him greater control of their conditioning.

England coach Steve Borthwick has warned rugby union's powerbrokers he fears the sport is becoming more like Australian Rules Football after the recent law directives from World Rugby.

England have now lost five in a row after the defeat to South Africa on Saturday and the RFU are facing calls for Steve Borthwick to be sacked.

Steve Borthwick insists that he retains the full backing of the Rugby Football Union despite England slumping to a fifth successive loss for the first time since 2018 after South Africa triumphed 29-20 at Twickenham.

England head coach Steve Borthwick is confident he has the backing of the Rugby Football Union despite presiding over a fifth successive defeat after South Africa triumphed 29-20 at Allianz Stadium. Cheslin Kolbe’s 62nd-minute try placed the Springboks in a commanding position and even when replacement prop Gerhard Steenekamp was sent to the sin-bin England could not break through,

The Rugby Football Union insist the former England captain retains its “100 per cent support” ahead of the side’s first match against South Africa since the Springboks’ dramatic 16-15 World Cup semi-final win in 2023.

England are playing to avoid a fifth successive defeat when they host the all-conquering back-to-back world champions.

Freddie Steward insists the players and not Steve Borthwick are at fault for the autumn washout that has piled pressure on England’s head coach. Steward believes Borthwick has been “let down” by his team after South Africa clinched a 29-20 victory on Saturday,

But it would be handy for Borthwick to shed more light on what’s going on, after four wins in 11 matches across the calendar year. Erasmus, the lion king in the Test jungle righ