England have taken step forward during Six Nations – Borthwick

LYON, France — Steve Borthwick said England took a step forward in this year's Six Nations and the weight of the jersey was becoming a little lighter on the players after ending their campaign with a defeat tight 33-31 against France in Lyon.

Jamie George was left “devastated” by the result when France fly-half Thomas Ramos scored a 79th-minute penalty to snatch victory for the hosts against a spirited England side. Both teams came into the match knowing that Ireland had already won the championship for the second year in a row, but they put on a brilliant show in Lyon with Blues secure a victory to take second place in the Six Nations.

England were a minute from victory after their four tries from Ollie Lawrence (two), Marcus Smith and Tommy Freeman, plus an impeccable performance from George Ford, gave them a 31-30 lead before the final moments of the match, only for Ramos to take the last-gasp penalty.

“[The] The dominant emotion is the immense pride of the players and the gratitude towards our supporters. I think the players were incredible. They played really well tonight and I'm really disappointed for them,” Borthwick said afterwards. “I'm grateful to our supporters. There was a fantastic atmosphere in Lyon this evening.

“I've spoken about the weight of the shirt in the past and I think with the kind of support we're getting, the England shirt is starting to feel a little lighter, it's helping these players grow.

Borthwick was unmoved by the controversial penalty against Ben Earl for an unarmed tackle in the 79th minute, but praised the way his side rallied against France.

England traveled to France on the back of wins over Wales and Italy, a disappointing performance against Scotland at Murrayfield, and then that momentous win over Ireland at Twickenham. But they ended up with a narrow defeat.

“We want to restrict the opposition's score without any doubt,” Borthwick said.

“We are starting to see the team develop their ability to score points. We came to France and scored four tries. When we came into the opposition 22 it looked like we could score. This is the progression of the team, it takes time.

“We have a mix, it's a new team. Some players have incredible experience and others with only a handful of caps. Young players so we are going to make mistakes. The environment I have to create is one where the players can come and make their difference on the field and understand that in our framework, mistakes can be made and the players have this ability to launch into the next battle.

“We played two top four teams in the world and we showed how we can compete with them. To be clear, we don't just want to compete, we want to win. We showed the team took a step forward .

George said the post-match emotions were similar to their last defeat to South Africa in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, where Handre Pollard scored a late penalty to break English hearts.

“Devastating – like the last time we were in France against South Africa [in the World Cup]”, said George. “France showed their class, but we are a team definitely on an upward curve.

“We let ourselves down against Scotland. But [today] we tried hard, our scrum and set piece held up well. I've loved the last seven weeks.”