England lock Maro Itoje has defended head coach Steve Borthwick and insists the national side is still heading in the right direction.
The comments come at the end of a disappointing Autumn Nations Series where England lost three of their four Tests.
Southern hemisphere powerhouses New Zealand, South Africa and Australia all beat England at home. Only a wide, and widely expected, win over Japan saw England manage to halt a run of five consecutive defeats.
This year has seen England only win five of 12 Tests with the team rooted at seventh in the world rankings.
Nevertheless Itoje believes Borthwick has taken undue criticism.
Sky Sports’ Eleanor Roper reflects on England’s dominant win over Japan following a run of successive losses
“Obviously he’s the boss so naturally people take aim for him but I don’t think it was fair,” Itoje told Sky Sports.
“Perhaps this is something, I guess, the public or the journalists can never fully appreciate because they’re not with us from day to day. The coaches set us up, they organise us, they worked incredibly hard to put us in the right position.”
He added: “I think as players we need to take more ownership. We need to execute under pressure. At times, especially in sport, whether it’s rugby, cricket, football, the blame always is assigned to the coaches where in reality that’s not always the case.
“I think as players we have a responsibility to do our part.”
Itoje believes there is a positive future for this England team.
Steve Borthwick showed his frustration with England’s recent results and discussed what we wants to see from his side
“I think we’ve learned a whole number of lessons throughout the campaign,” he reflected.
“Twickenham was buzzing, the fans were amazing but unfortunately we fell a little bit short. That being said I still think there’s lots to look forward to, lots to be optimistic about.
“I think we’re very close. I know some of these tight losses are annoying for the fans and they’re definitely annoying for the players but I do think we’re building.”
Luke Cowan-Dickie reflects on England’s most recent defeats and his comeback in rugby
Next year’s Six Nations championship though, which starts for England against Ireland in Dublin on February 1, could be defining for this team.
“As players, as staff, as the whole set-up, we’re looking forward to it,” Itoje insisted.
“If anything this autumn series has fuelled the fire and made me even more excited about what we could potentially do.”
Watch every game of the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, including all three Test matches against the Wallabies, exclusively live on Sky Sports.