Italy v England: Borthwick backs ‘bibs back line’ to ease Six Nations crisis

Last weekend, France launched a new shirt.

Antoine Dupont, Louis-Pierre-Pillar and Mathieu Jalibert, along with footballers Djibril Cisse and Hugo Equitiki, appear in the glossy ad., external For the light blue number that France will wear against England on the final day of the Six Nations.

By contrast, England, against Italy this weekend, opted to wear bibs.

The new-look backline’s only experience together is coaching one-on-ones in practice.

Look instead for smaller clusters within the whole and you will find only thin threads of understanding.

Fly-half Fin Smith and inside center Seb Atkinson came through Worcester’s youth system and made six first-team appearances together half a decade ago.

Smith and outside center Tommy Freeman are both at Northampton, although Freeman is usually deployed on the wing, rather than midfield, at club level.

Atkinson and winger Tom Roebuck were part of England’s Test series win in Argentina.

And that’s all there is to it.

Seven players from six different clubs and a lot of unknown players.

Head coach Steve Borthwick has, in the past, focused on the continuity, cohesion and long-term lessons imprinted by the white heat of a Test match – but he was citing different evidence this week.

“A big part of the defensive line trained for four or five weeks together and they trained very well,” he said.

“I say again how much I appreciate what I see in training. I say that to the players, I watch every part of training and I appreciate the performance in training. This is a very strong message about the spirit within the England team, which will be rewarded for the performance in that sense.”

It’s a stark shift. But England’s decline over the past two matches has been dramatic.

England was not even close to Scotland and Ireland in the last two rounds, losing by 11 and 21 points.

Not only did they chase the wrong game plan, make poor decisions, or show little sign of being able to switch strategies. On an individual level, they were also low on energy, low on energy, and made basic mistakes.

It was a collapse on multiple fronts. In theory, the two defeats should not be so heavy compared to the 12 wins that preceded them, but it was the manner of England’s losses that shook faith in their long-term plans.

After the defeat to Ireland, captain Maro Itoje addressed his team on the pitch.

“Success is not always linear…success does not always work that way,” he assured them, tracing a smooth upward line through the Twickenham air.

“Sometimes things go like that,” he continued, his hand going in an undulating, erratic way upward.

“Through hard work, and through consistency, we will get things back on track. Keep believing in what we are doing, and keep trusting each other.”