Monye backs Borthwick to make England a threat for World Cup

UGO Monye has backed Steve Borthwick's stuttering England side to bounce back from their underwhelming Six Nations campaign and pose a genuine threat at this year's World Cup. Borthwick's team finished fourth after winning just two of their five games in the Championship, with a humbling 53-10 defeat against France at Twickenham setting alarm bells ringing with less than six months to go until their World Cup opener against Argentina in Marseille. Ad But Monye, who played 14 times for England between 2008 and 2012, believes there is still plenty of time for new boss Borthwick to get things right after being encouraged by what he saw in England's 29-16 defeat to Grand Slam champions Ireland.

RugbyTwickenham fixture shows growth of women's game, says HarrisonAN HOUR AGO «The Six Nations wasn't what we wanted it to be — but we have time,» he said. «When I look at the individuals in the team, if we can reach our potential we will be a very competitive team come the World Cup. »France was disappointing but hopefully, you can draw a line under it as an anomaly.

That is not the expectation of performance though France were very good on the day. «What we could take away watching the Ireland game was how we could be competitive, combative and challenge the number one side in the world. »We have players coming back, the likes of Courtney Lawes, Tom Curry, Luke Cowan-Dickie to mention a few.