Steve Borthwick delivers verdict on RFU support after England fall to fifth straight defeat

Steve Borthwick believes he has the “absolute support” of the RFU after England fell to a fifth defeat in a row by losing to South Africa.

The Springboks ran out 29-20 winners at Allianz Stadium on Saturday evening to consign England to their third defeat of this Autumn Nations Series.

The defeat is also the fifth Test that England have lost on the spin, which makes it their worst run since 2018. England’s win percentage under Borthwick has slipped to below 50 per cent.

Borthwick, however, believes he retains the support of the RFU and he is confident results will improve in the future.

“I am not going to be talking about private conversations with you here,” Borthwick said, when asked if he was worried about being give time to turn things around.

“And I think what is actually more important is the feeling that I get. The feeling I get from the RFU is one of absolute support and absolute belief that this team is going in the right direction. That is something I get from everybody at the RFU.

“I am very confident that we are on the right path and I am very confident that I am working with a great group of coaches, a great group of players.

“I am very confident that we will be on a trajectory where we are moving. We want things to happen now, it’s not happened now.

“We aim to put in a better performance next week against Japan when we are back here next Sunday.

“These are painful experiences right now. I think this adversity will, ultimately, be good for the team long term. It’s just very, very difficult right now.

“These are challenging days right now. They are development days for us. It’s painful. We will work through this and we will ensure we are a better team coming out of it.”