Chessum and Heyes shine as hosts pass genuine test

ENGLAND continued their winning run under head coach Steve Borthwick - it's now nine games on the bounce after an underwhelming start when he lost six of his first nine games in charge.

- By IAN COCKERILL

Now, it’s pretty clear that Borthwick inherited a dispirited and disjointed squad left behind by Eddie Jones.

So to turn things around as quickly as he did - managing a World Cup semifinal, even given a friendly draw in the pool and in the quarters, was mightily impressive - but since then we have seen the real Borthwick come to the fore. Things have gone well for him, and in some ways he has had fortune in his favour.

The win against France in last season's Six Nations was a rare rugby example of the (much) better team contriving to lose.