Borthwick searches for positives after dismal England loss to Wales

CARDIFF : A lack of precision in their opponents 22 and too many unforced errors cost England in their 20-9 Rugby World Cup warm-up defeat to Wales on Saturday, according to coach Steve Borthwick, but he did draw some positives from the game.

England led 9-6 at halftime and should have been further ahead as they made numerous entries into the Wales 22, but either handling errors – they made 16 in the match – poor decision-making or inaccuracy at the set-piece meant they came away empty-handed.

Borthwick will select his final 33-player squad for the World Cup on Monday and has much to ponder between now and then having given several players a chance to stake a claim for a place in that group.

"In the first half we created lots of opportunities, we turned over too much ball in the opposition 22, we can't do that in test rugby," Borthwick told Amazon Prime.

"Immediately there are some areas for improvement, but the positives were how many entries we got into the opposition's scoring zone."

England did look the better side in the opening period, their sloppiness in possession aside, but as Wales stepped up their intensity in the second half, the visitors’ inexplicably dropped off.

"Credit to Wales in that 50-65 minute period, they were very, very good," Borthwick said.

"Every one of these experiences will be positive for us as we build over the next few weeks to the World Cup."

The teams meet again in a second warm-up fixture at Twickenham next Saturday, before England travel to Ireland on Aug. 19 and host Fiji a week later in a final two games before the World Cup in France starting on Sept. 8.