RFU backs Borthwick despite England's worst-ever Six Nations slump

England’s 2026 campaign was their worst in the championship’s modern history. They won only once and finished fifth after losing four matches for the first time in a single Six Nations. The lowest point came in Rome on 7 March, when Italy beat England 23-18 for the first time ever. Defeats to Scotland and Ireland followed, before France edged England 48-46 in the final match on 14 March.

That final scoreline masked a broader breakdown. England had opened with a 48-7 win over Wales on 7 February, a result that extended their winning run to 12 matches and briefly suggested Borthwick’s side had momentum. Instead, the campaign unravelled into a pattern of missed chances and self-inflicted damage. England collected eight yellow cards across the tournament, including a 20-minute red card shown to Henry Arundell against Scotland. For a team trying to close the gap on the best in Europe, the review’s verdict on discipline and accuracy read less like a diagnosis than a list of recurring faults.

Bill Sweeney, the Rugby Football Union’s chief executive, said the union remains behind Borthwick while the coaching staff address the problems identified in the review. But the decision to retain him also places the burden on the RFU to define measurable standards before Australia 2027. If England are no longer judged by the title they last won in 2020, then the bar has to be more specific than vague improvement.