Borthwick's England finally deliver on promises

LONDON : In one thrilling, memorable afternoon at Twickenham, Steve Borthwick finally made the connection with England's fans that he had been seeking since he took over and also cast off the idea that he is a data-driven highly conservative coach.

Borthwick's England took the most pragmatic route to get within two minutes of reaching the World Cup final last year and though he subsequently talked about "layering on" new ways to attack, there was precious little evidence of it in the early rounds of the Six Nations.

Instead it was the blitz defence of new coach Felix Jones that came under scrutiny as Italy cut through with ease before England regained control to claim a 27-24 win that was more convincing than the scoreline suggested.

England had to come from behind again to edge past Wales 16-14 and, after a bright start against Scotland, had a disastrous afternoon when more than 20 handling errors helped Duhan van der Merwe to get a hat-trick as the Scots chalked up a fourth successive championship victory for the first time since 1896.

Amid the Murrayfield wreckage, however, were some early bright spots which Borthwick called the blueprint for England's attack, based on bringing in George Furbank for the reliable but limited Freddie Steward and getting the injured Ollie Lawrence into the midfield.

The bookmakers were unconvinced, making England an unheard of 4-1 outsiders against Ireland at Twickenham amid talk that Borthwick would demand flyhalf George Ford delivered another controlled kicking display that worked so well at the World Cup.

Giving a first start to 21-year-old winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was a clue that perhaps Borthwick did indeed have the ambition to unleash what he kept saying he could see just beneath the