Borthwick's men wilt in Dublin's red hot furnace

WHEN are England going to become 80 minute men? That was the question that loomed large as Steve Borthwick's team once again ran out of gas when this Six Nations opener in Dublin was in the balance in the second half.

- By NICK CAIN

WHEN are England going to become 80 minute men? That was the question that loomed large as Steve Borthwick's team once again ran out of gas when this Six Nations opener in Dublin was in the balance in the second half.

Ireland showed why they are title-holders and bidding to become the first team to win three Six Nations titles in succession when they took the game away from a tiring England side with three second-half by Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne and Dan Sheehan to lead 27-10 with only nine minutes remaining.

It secured the Irish a bonus point win, but England will no doubt talk about the pride and character that they showed to pick themselves off the floor and score two late tries through Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman to make the final scoreline less stark.

However, the reality is that Borthwick's side does not have the peak fitness to play the fast paced game the head coach aspires to. It is also clear that whether it is the fault of falling standards in the Premiership, or the disruption to England's strength and conditioning due to departures from Borthwick's backroom team, it has to be remedied if they are to find their way back to international rugby's top table.

It was not just England's openside back row trio of Ben Earl and Ben and Tom Curry, who were tiring when the acid test came against the Irish after the break, but every front five forward bar new captain Maro Itoje.

When Ireland turned up the heat immediately after the interval, England were soon scrambling to hang onto the 10-5 half-time advantage secured by a try for debutant winger Cadan Murley and a clattering 40 minute defensive effort.

A steepling hoist by Ireland's scrum-half orchestrator Jamison Gibson-Park saw Murley under pressure for the first time as it bounced into the in-goal area, and the home side secured a five metre scrum when he was snared.