Six Nations 2026: RFU determined to root out England’s inconsistency in review

Five years later, only a few of these factors will be factors in poor performance in 2026.

Borthwick has a great backroom staff, led by senior assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth, who oversees defence, with Lee Blackett – recruited from Premier League champions Bath – in charge of attack.

Kevin Sinfield (kicking and skills), Tom Harrison (scrum), Joe El-Abd (forwards) and Byron McGuigan (contact and back three) were also part of the Six Nations group.

The professional game partnership, which launches in 2024, means England has greater control over the preparation and medical treatment of its best players.

However, 15 of their players were part of the British and Irish Lions’ hectic summer tour of Australia.

Itoje, who exceeded the guideline for the number of minutes senior players must play in the 2023-24 season, led the tourists to a 2-1 win in another busy campaign.

France, which has a star break policy on summer tours, won five of the seven Six Nations tournaments immediately after the Summer of Lions.

The 2021 review called for more refereeing input into England’s preparations, given their lack of discipline. The team was subjected to violations from referees again this year, receiving eight yellow cards during the five matches.

Matt Dawson and Paul Grayson, both members of the 2003 Rugby World Cup-winning England team, believe the solution to the team’s contradictions lies in the players themselves.

“I will direct everything to the players,” Dawson told Rugby Union Weekly.

“They were accountable to France, they took responsibility for it and put themselves into a frantic physical condition to dismantle France.

“I saw the players had it today.”

Grayson added: “The best teams are led by players, not coaches.

“They have to set the culture, agree some standards and a framework, and then the players take it because they want to win, not because they’re worried about proving the critics wrong or anything else.”