Steve Borthwick addresses his future as England head coach following the Italy defeat

Steve Borthwick’s position as head coach of England is under increasing pressure following their defeat to Italy in Rome, their first-ever loss to the Azzurri.

This was England’s third consecutive defeat, and it has left them fifth in the Six Nations ahead of the competition's final weekend when they will face France.

Fans have called for the replacement of Borthwick at the helm of the national rugby team, with there being a feeling they are going backwards due to their limited attacking game plan.

Now following the defeats to Scotland, Ireland and Italy in the Six Nations after England were considered favourites by many ahead of the tournament to win the Grand Slam, for the first time since 2016, Borthwick has addressed if he is the right man to lead them to the World Cup in 2027, as reported in the Times.

He said: “Absolutely. The Six Nations before a World Cup – we have seen it before with England teams. Go back to 2018 [when England finished fifth], and the team was in a very good place the following year at the World Cup [reaching the final].

“It is tough right now; we are not hiding away from the fact it is tough. We are not where we want to be in terms of results and in terms of performances.

“I’m not shying away from the result, which wasn’t good enough. Clearly, we are desperately disappointed and look back on two other losses, so three losses in a row after 12 wins in a row – it clearly is not where we want to be. What we are going to do is make sure we have a great week's training and get to Paris to play against France [next Saturday].

“These are not the performances and results that we wanted to give our supporters. Over the last period of time, we’ve brought the supporters on a journey with us. We’ve played the type of rugby that we want to play. Just look at the try-scoring we’ve done over the last 12 months and the way we’ve tried to play. It’s been very good. Unfortunately, right now, those tries aren’t flowing the way we want.”

Borthwick appears defiant and believes that he can get it right for when England travels to Australia for the World Cup in 2027, returning to the location where they won their first Webb Ellis Cup in 2003.

The head coach has also been given the full backing by the RFU, at least until the summer, as they have released a statement through their chief executive, Bill Sweeney.

He said: “After a 12-match winning run, these past three results have been hugely disappointing, and we feel that just as much as everyone else.

“Steve and his coaching team are working tirelessly to make improvements, and we remain fully committed to supporting them and the players as they face France this weekend and then look ahead to the Nations Championship.

“Part of that support is being open about what hasn’t gone right during this Six Nations and making sure everyone has a clear sense of how we move through those challenges together. That’s something we’ll be talking through and working on in the days and weeks ahead.

We will work together to understand and rectify why we have been unable to meet the expectations and anticipation going into these games.

“England fans rightly expect a team that learns and grows through adversity, and we’re confident this group will do everything they can to deliver that.”