New England head coach Steve Borthwick has hit out at the fitness of the squad he inherited from Eddie Jones.
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“If it was as straightforward as one thing, it would be brilliant. There are different aspects,” said Borthwick.
“The conditioning, to get conditioned to how we want to play, because it is different to how it’s been done previously.
“It’s different to players from different clubs. So I think there is a condition aspect, that is going to come with time. You can’t fix that quickly, all you can do is keep training at the intensity required, ready for the Test matches.
“I think there were some things tactically as well that we needed to adjust in both games so we have looked at those closely, to make sure we are tactically smarter and also conditioned better.”
Borthwick will be recruiting fitness Aled Walters from his old club Leicester following the Six Nations
He added: “I don’t separate the physical from the mental, because the two are intrinsically linked. What we have to do is rebuild this team.
“What I’ve seen this team do, in the Scotland game, is actually come through that period and actually went up on the scoreboard.
“What we didn’t then do is finish the game. And I was pretty frank after the Italy game, I was pretty disappointed with the last 20 minutes of it – how we gave them some opportunities. I was pretty frank about saying our speed of ball wasn’t where I wanted it to be.
“So what have I done? Concentrated on making improvements in those areas. And we know this is an incredible challenge, because [Wales] have got Test caps galore. We are going to have to be very, very good. Can we be the best we can be?”
“Didn’t even call” – Five players who won’t play for England again under Steve Borthwick
Steve Borthwick has been brutal In his short time in charge of England, dropping a number of major stars ahead of the 2023 Six Nations.
Below, we look at three established stars who are unlikely to win another cap.
#1. Joe Marler
Age: 32
Position: Loosehead-prop
Caps: 83
Marler is unlikely to return to the England team during the 2023 Six Nations after he breached one of Steve Borthwick’s main rules.
The new England boss has a “no sh**talking policy” with England, whereby he expects players to behave appropriately on the pitch.
As a result, Marler was left out of the Six Nations squad despite his fine form with Harlequins this season.
Marler’s latest ban was for six weeks – four of them suspended – after accepting a charge regarding comments made to Bristol flanker Jake Heenan about his mother.
At this stage, an international return looks very unlikely.
DID YOU KNOW? Marler started his career at Haywards Heath RFC in Sussex where he played in the same side as fellow England international Billy Twelvetrees