Steve Borthwick: Is Italy defeat the beginning of the end for England coach?

England rolled the dice repeatedly, taking to the air in the hope of winning the aerial competition.

They did it from time to time.

Cadan Murley came through with a pair early to win district, but when his numbers didn’t show up, England couldn’t walk away and couldn’t come up with another game plan.

England Rugby World Cup winner Matt Dawson said on BBC Radio 5 Live: “Questions need to be asked about England’s strategy and methodology, how they believe the game should be played at this level.”

“The way England are playing, they won’t be able to win international matches.”

They don’t make many friends either.

It’s hard to like their style of high kicks and lack of flair. England can’t win anymore, fans are quickly running out of patience.

Itoje later insisted that the fault was with him and his fellow players.

“The coaches have prepared us to do good things and we as players have to take responsibility. It’s me as the captain and we are the players on the field,” he told BBC Sport.

But no one else will give Borthwick and his regime a free pass.

Whatever the outcome against France, this campaign, which came with such high hopes and fell so low, will rightly be scrutinized to find the reason for England’s failure.

Borthwick will have to explain his part in this. And Rugby Football Union bosses will have to consider whether he has another role to play.

In many respects they will be reluctant to change the management of the team.

There was a late coaching loss in the last Rugby World Cup cycle, with Eddie Jones being sacked less than a year after France 2023.

While his successor, Borthwick, guided England to within striking distance of the final, he was crippled by a lack of preparation.

When he did spend time with the team, he had a 12-game one-year streak that ended just three weeks ago.

There are plenty of potential successors and candidates for one of the biggest jobs in sports.

Scott Robertson, who was sacked as All Blacks coach in January, and Franco Smith, who took Glasgow to new heights. Both have held talks with the RFU in the past about different roles., external

Combining steel and silk at Bristol and performing admirably this season despite a host of injuries, Pat Lam has made no secret of his international ambitions.

If the preference is for an England manager, as it was last time, then Andy Farrell and Shaun Edwards have done a hugely impressive job with England’s Six Nations opponents.

Phil Dowson has put together a stylish winning Northampton team from many of the same players in the England squad.

They all come with warnings, challenges, and doubts.

The problem with the RFU is that so is the status quo.