(Reuters) – England’s new coach Steve Borthwick said the team “weren’t good at anything” when he took over from Eddie Jones and that they would have to improve in several departments after losing their Six Nations opener to Scotland on Saturday.
Borthwick, who was appointed in December after Jones was sacked, saw his side beaten 29-23 at Twickenham, where they will face Italy in their next match on Feb. 12.
“I’ve been frank from day one in saying there’s a lot of work to do,” Borthwick told British media. “When I looked at the team in the autumn, when I measured the team and got all the data for the team, we weren’t good at anything.
“It was as frank as that. So we are trying to build some strengths in this team and some bits we are pleased about and some bits we are disappointed about. My job is to make sure we get some improvements next week.”
Borthwick, who had only 11 days to work with the squad, said he was still trying to get his ideas across.
“I have asked the players to play a new way,” he added. “One thing I have got to do here is get the players to believe in themselves and get the players to bring their strengths to the pitch.”
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
