England woke up on Sunday with quite the hangover.
After having suffered its biggest defeat against France and conceding the third heaviest setback in its history.
“We are suffering,
did not hide the coach of the XV of the Rose, Steve Borthwick.
Nobody has any illusions about what we have to do, we have been frank about it, and that shows exactly the harsh reality.
We fell short against the world number two team.
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The British press went there to their heart's content to bury their team.
Harsh words, at the height of the rout suffered.
The
Telegraph
evoking
'a pounding, a smash and a disgrace'
.
Adding that the English
“leave having seen the most terrifying of reflections in the mirror, their distressing banality highlighted by the brilliance of a ruthless France.”
For Steve Borthwick, called to the rescue after the bad patch crossed by Eddie Jones (6 defeats in 12 games in 2022, the worst record since 2008), nothing worked.
The former international second line (57 caps, including 21 as captain) will go down in history as the first English coach to have lost two home games in the Six Nations Tournament, after giving in against Scotland.
And his battle plan was a fiasco.
His choice to establish the young Marcus Smith (24 years old) at the opening rather than the curly Owen Farrell (31 years old) did not work at all.
La Rose, overwhelmed by the speed of execution and the permanent aggressiveness of the Blues, was totally helpless in his “rugby temple”, deserted before the end of the match.
"Everyone pushes us, so much the better"
First nightmare for Ellis Genge, who released his captain's stripes on Saturday.
“Even when we were down twenty points
(24)
at halftime, the message was to believe in it.
I think the guys really believed in it.
But we were caught in the confrontation zones,
he noted.
At this level, it's complicated when you lose contact.
And it had a snowball effect…”
Six months before the World Cup in France, the XV de la Rose – which will be in the pool of Argentina, Japan, Samoa and Chile – is at the bottom of the bucket.
Without ideas, or common thread.
And it is all of English rugby that is shaking, in the wake of Premiership clubs struggling financially: the cumulative amount of their debts would amount to more than 560 million euros.
This led the Wasps (historic club with six titles) and Worcester to bankruptcy, and others like Newcastle and the London Irish to serious turbulence.
Read alsoXV of France: behind the scenes of a day of glory at Twickenham
But Ellis Genge does not want to darken the picture.
“I have already experienced such situations, whether in club or in selection.
Everyone pushes us, so much the better.
We will see where we are in six months
, he announces.
I think there's no point in yelling: we win or we lose together.
But the worst is perhaps to come with a trip on Saturday (6 p.m.) to Ireland, impressive number one in the world rankings.
The Independent
daily
is sounding the alarm:
“Get your calculators ready.
Based on this performance, the 76-0 loss to Australia
(the worst in English history)
in the 1998 Tour Inferno could be in jeopardy…”
Be careful, however, not to bury Her Majesty's subjects too quickly, never as strong as in the storm.
After their coronation in 2003, they had already had mediocre results, but managed to reach the final of the 2007 edition in France.
After beating the Blues for the second time in a row in the semi-finals…
