Maro Itoje backs Steve Borthwick after England’s 45-22 Nations Championship win over Australia
Maro Itoje publicly supported England head coach Steve Borthwick after the home side beat Australia 45-22 at Allianz Stadium in the Nations Championship on Sunday, calling Borthwick “a world‑class coach” and saying “we’re lucky to have him.”
The endorsement came against a backdrop of fresh media reports of unhappiness in the camp this summer; Borthwick said he had received several pre-game messages from former England coaches urging him to ignore external criticism and focus on the rugby. England scored seven tries, posted a record number of points against the Wallabies and recorded only their third win in their past eight games.
Itoje reiterated the squad’s full support for Borthwick and rejected criticism of the coach’s man‑management from unnamed sources, saying: “Particularly from a player’s point of view we have full support in Steve.” He noted he had missed England’s July Tests in South Africa and Argentina and added: “I’ve had the privilege of Steve being my coach since 2016 and that’s not the man I recognise. The article doesn’t represent the environment I recognise. If you speak to some of the guys on the 2017 [British & Irish] Lions tour they’ll tell you about the impact Steve had on them. Those guys aren’t English, I’m talking about the Irish and Welsh guys.”
Borthwick described the report as “not an accurate reflection” of his regime and confirmed contact from predecessors: “What I will say is that in the last couple of days a number of my predecessors have reached out,” he said. “I won’t name who they are, but … the basic gist of it was: ‘Been there, got the T-shirt, focus on the rugby.’ That’s what I’ve done this week and that’s what the players have done.”
The match produced notable individual contributions and injury concerns. Exeter wing Manny Feyi‑Waboso lasted only 40 minutes and requires a scan on an injured ankle, while centre Seb Atkinson sustained a blow to his hip; Borthwick said he believes there is more to come from the side, adding: “I think there’s another gear in this team and that’s really pleasing and exciting.” Henry Pollock, pressed into service as a makeshift wing after Feyi‑Waboso’s departure, scored two tries and earned Borthwick’s wry observation: “We now have to bear Henry Pollock saying that playing on the wing is easy,” and “He was excellent but the downside is that we’ll now hear a lot about it.”
Australia head coach Les Kiss accepted his team must improve for their next fixture against Scotland, saying: “We just didn’t get going, particularly in that first half. I’ll give a lot of credit to England for imposing their game on us. [But] the bottom line is that we have to be better. We can’t just sit back on our heels and cop that and not have a response somewhere.”
England will now await a fitness update on knocks to several players before their next game against Japan on Saturday.
