England are looking for some new prop idols after acknowledging their scrum foundations need to be reinforced in the wake of their 2‑0 series defeat in New Zealand. Steve Borthwick has accepted the superiority of the All Blacks’ scrum was a key factor in the hosts’ success and he will spend the summer weighing up possible solutions.
Whether or not the 37-year-old Dan Cole plays on after becoming England’s most-capped male forward in the 24-17 defeat at Eden Park on Saturday, Borthwick is on the hunt for tighthead forwards capable of shoring up the set-piece that creaked at crucial moments towards the end of both Tests against the All Blacks.
“Quite clearly we need to find some more tightheads,” Borthwick said, reflecting on England’s latest narrow defeat. “I’ll have a conversation with Coley in due course and see what he wants to do. If you look at the loosehead side we’ve got competition. We won’t quite have that on the other side of the scrum.
“That’s going to be a big development project for myself and [the scrum coach] Tom Harrison. You saw that the scrum was under pressure so that’s an area we have to improve.”
While Bath’s Will Stuart started both Tests in New Zealand and is still part of Borthwick’s plans, England may consider skipping a generation and choose to fast-track one or two of the promising props now playing for their under-20 side.
“Part of my next step is to do that kind of planning and decide on the right thing to do,” Borthwick said. “That’s one area we have to look at.”
Cole, whose 115th cap has taken him past Jason Leonard’s longstanding record, is delaying any decision regarding his Test future. He said: “I’ve had 14 months of this season so I want to go home and relax. Then we’ll see … I’ve said to Steve I’m going day to day.”
Cole believes, however, it is only a matter of time before England start turning tight defeats into victories. “It will happen because we’ll keep learning and getting better. I think people will be better for the experience. If we can learn from these games then, hopefully, in three or five years’ time they’ll be a different team and win these games.
“These results are tough but if we keep doing the right things and keep being in a position to win games, at some point it will turn and we’ll be on the right side of them,” he said. “The ingredients are there to make this squad very good. At some point it will swing.”
Borthwick is similarly optimistic, despite his side’s increasing tendency to surrender second-half leads. “What’s pretty clear to see is that I’m trying to have consistency in selection and build the number of caps, not just individually but together so we maximise that cohesion,” he said. “That’s clearly with a longer term goal in mind but we need results now as well. That’s always a challenge the England head coach has. We need results now and we need to be preparing for several years in advance.”
Despite Marcus Smith’s influential display at Eden Park, the England management have also left the door ajar for George Ford to launch a fresh bid for the No 10 jersey next season once he is fit and available again. “George is busy rehabbing and when he is fully fit we will have three incredible fly-halves,” Borthwick said. “He is world-class and I thought his performance in the Six Nations was exceptional.
“I thought Marcus did some really good things [on tour]. When you see the ability he has to see space, to create tries, to open up a defence … there is not much space. We played New Zealand twice and both games were two tries apiece so having that bit of brilliance is essential to try and open up that opportunity or find that score.”
Borthwick, however, has hinted he will be picking primarily on form for England’s next game against the All Blacks in early November. “Getting to the start of the season I’ll want the players to be playing really well coming into that autumn series. The three of them – Fin Smith, George Ford and Marcus – it’s put us in a pretty enviable position.”
