‘Lucky to have him’: Maro Itoje backs Borthwick after England triumph

Maro Itoje, the England captain, has reiterated his squad’s full support for the head coach, Steve Borthwick, after the home side’s resounding 45-22 victory against Australia at Allianz Stadium on Sunday. Itoje described Borthwick as “a world‑class coach” and said England were “lucky to have him” despite fresh media reports of unhappiness in the camp this summer.Borthwick also revealed he had received several pre-game messages from former England coaches urging him to ignore external criticism and to concentrate on the rugby. His team certainly succeeded in that regard, scoring seven tries to rack up a record number of points against the Wallabies and register only their third win in their past eight games.Itoje did not confirm specifically that the story in the Times last week had galvanised the players but made it clear that he disagreed with criticism of Borthwick’s man‑management style by unnamed sources. “Particularly from a players point of view we have full support in Steve,” said Itoje, who missed England’s July Tests in South Africa and Argentina.“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.“Often too much criticism is attached to the coach. No matter how well Steve coaches us, we as players are the ones on the field who have to perform. There’s been times where we haven’t quite done that which has put a bit of pressure on him. So, yeah, I’m delighted that we were able to get the win. He’s a world-class coach and we’re lucky to have him.”Borthwick also insisted that the report was “not an accurate reflection” of his regime and said a number of coaches with Test experience had been in touch.“What I will say is that in the last couple of days a number of my predecessors have reached out,” the England head coach 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.”England will now await a fitness update on knocks to several players before their next game against Japan on Saturday. The biggest doubt surrounds the Exeter wing Manny Feyi‑Waboso, who lasted only 40 minutes and requires a scan on an injured ankle, while the centre Seb Atkinson sustained a blow to his hip.Borthwick, either way, believes there is more to come from his side – “I think there’s another gear in this team and that’s really pleasing and exciting” – and also acknowledged the two-try impact of the effervescent Henry Pollock, pressed into service as a makeshift wing after Feyi-Waboso’s departure.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“We now have to bear Henry Pollock saying that playing on the wing is easy,” Borthwick said wryly. “He was excellent but the downside is that we’ll now hear a lot about it.”The Wallabies head coach, Les Kiss, acknowledged the need for a sharp improvement against Scotland on Sunday. “We just didn’t get going, particularly in that first half,” Kiss said. “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.”