England are left to pick the bones out of Roman ruins

While there is little desire for change internally, head coach Steve Borthwick has been placed under huge pressure after Saturday's historic win by Italy, writes Harry Latham-Coyle

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Sat on high in a Roman colosseum, Steve Borthwick looked around to see his empire in decay. If defeats to Scotland and Ireland could be in part explained away as two off-days, a historic loss to Italy represented a new Six Nations low for England - and worse could still be to come.

Never previously have England ended a campaign with just a single win; with a trip to Paris to face pent-up French frustration in seven days' time, contemplating any other outcome now feels fanciful.

If there could be no shame in losing to this ever-improving, ever more believing Italy, there could be shame again in the manner in which it happened - an eight-point lead squandered, a game in their grasp let slip by a side that had seemed to have put that sort of thing behind them. England looked ill-disciplined, ill-prepared and inaccurate - the very opposite of the side Borthwick has sought to forge. Even the great Roman emperor Aurelian would struggle for a solution to this crisis.

“We have to face the facts and face reality,” Maro Itoje told ITV. To extend some meagre credit to Borthwick, he had tried contrasting approaches in response to the two prior losses; first sticking, then twisting, but finding neither delivered the desired impact. Having talked up England's depth throughout the 12-match winning run that had made them Six Nations contenders, it has been found desperately wanting.

The unthinkable question now for the Rugby Football Union (RFU) is whether drastic change is required. That may not - and probably should not - necessarily mean that Borthwick's job is in peril, with senior figures from the union recently emphasising as much to