Every game matters for England, says Borthwick

LONDON : After years of Eddie Jones staking all his chips on the distant goal of the World Cup, new England coach Steve Borthwick has made it clear that “every game matters” and that his focus at the moment does not go beyond hosting Scotland on Feb. 4.

That is England’s opening game of the Six Nations Championship, which held its official launch in London on Monday, and Borthwick said he was raring to go having replaced Jones after the Australian was sacked in November.

“As you come in here you sense the excitement around the room,” he said. “I grew up watching the Five Nations - this is an incredible tournament.

"I had the privilege of playing in it then coaching as an assistant and now as a head coach. I’m excited, determined to get on the field and get started."

The former captain and lock, who coached Leicester to the Premiership title last season, reiterated his aim of getting the supporters back behind the team after a series of poor results and dispiriting performances that led to Jones's sacking.

“I've been asked a lot of questions about how little time we have to prepare because I've only been in the job a few weeks and I've been asked questions about injuries," said Borthwick.

"There are players who are missing but we have a fantastic squad to coach, led by an incredible captain (Owen Farrell), who are desperate to get on the field and start producing performances that our team and supporters can be proud of."

Farrell is back in the job full time after receiving a ringing endorsement from Borthwick and said with new attack and defence coaches Nick Evans and Kevin Sinfield in place, it felt like a new start for a team that finished third and fifth in the last two tournaments, managing four wins from 10 matches.

“We sit