Borthwick: It's time to put our foot down

STEVE Borthwick insists he has come up with a solution to problem England's in closing out matches be even quicker out of the blocks in the upcoming Six Nations.

- By ADAM NS HATHAWAY

Borthwick has also revealed he has studied the coaching techniques of Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou as his side aim to earn their spurs in the tournament.

And the national head coach has also admitted he has addressed the elephant in the room with the squad regarding British & Irish Lions selection this summer.

Borthwick was frustrated in 2024 when he watched his side throw away winning positions against France, New Zealand three times and Australia after having the games at their mercy.

Nail those five games and England would have been looking at a 10 from 12 winning return in the calendar year instead of a dismal five from 12.

Borthwick held an alignment camp in Bagshot the week before last, ahead of his squad announcement last Tuesday, and hammered home the message that England need to keep their feet on opponents' throats.

He said: "There are a couple of factors, the first one is to play even better in the first 60. Let's start the game even better, let's play even better so that our presence on the scoreboard is even greater than it was. Clearly, we're doing a lot of things really well because we're playing against very good teams and getting into winning positions.