Inappropriate to discuss Borthwick future during review, says RFU boss Sweeney

LONDON, March 27 : Bill Sweeney, the head of the RFU, says he still has "absolute confidence" in the England squad after their wretched Six Nations but that it would be inappropriate to discuss the future of coach Steve Borthwick until the conclusion of an ongoing review.

England's one win over Wales represented their worst performance since the tournament was expanded in 2000. After losing to Italy for the first time ever three weeks ago, Sweeney issued a statement giving tentative backing to Borthwick, who is contracted through to the 2027 World Cup.

Asked at a media briefing on Thursday whether Borthwick – who led England to third place at the 2023 World Cup - remains the best man to lead the team into their July matches in the new Nations Championship against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina, he said: "We are in the middle of the review so it would not be appropriate to talk about that.

"The primary focus is to get to the bottom of the issues, and clearly there are some, and we are getting to them already. I see the outcome of that being for us to make sure we have got the right support mechanisms in place to address that and support Steve to get that right going forward."

The review, which is standard after every major competition, has a panel that includes some people from outside rugby, but its makeup remains anonymous.

"It is a thorough review, it is a real deep dive into it with Steve and the whole coaching team we will draw the conclusions when we have got all the facts in front of us," Sweeney said.

Sweeney said that there had been a lot of expectation coming into the Six Nations on the back of an 11-game winning run and that he was "more disappointed than anyone" with how things unfolded.

"The Ireland game was