2026 Six Nations analysis: Where do England go from here after historic defeat to Italy?

It is not an overstatement to say that Saturday was one of the darkest days in recent English rugby history.

From eight points up with 20 minutes to go, England squandered their lead to suffer a first-ever defeat to Italy in their history.

Of course, nothing should be taken away from the Italian performance; they have had a brilliant tournament and produced magic for their maiden victory against England.

But this tournament has been a nightmare so far for the Roses.

For exclusive stories and all the detailed rugby news you need, subscribe to The Rugby Paper website, digital edition, or newspaper from as little as 14p a day.

Lack of desire plagues England

Quite frankly, the team seem to have lacked the desire to win and certainly haven’t had the gameplans to do so either.

Former scrum half Ben Youngs, also England’s most capped player, made an interesting comment on his podcast, stating: “England look as though they are playing to not lose as opposed to playing to win.”

This certainly seemed to be the case against Italy.

But it shouldn’t be. A team ranked amongst one of the favourites heading into the tournament should not be playing the full 80 as though they are hanging on to a result.

Team cohesion and togetherness seem to be far removed from autumn, with the backs, only a few times each game, being able to put a running move together without fumbling the ball.

How can England recover?

So where do they go now? Firstly, Steve Borthwick has some big decisions to make ahead of the Six Nations finale in Paris on Saturday.

Surely the best option would be to either heavily rotate the squad again or switch up the tactics.

The game can be treated as a friendly now, with only a fourth-place finish to play for.

Besides, the England which we have seen so far this tournament will simply be no match for France who, even in a losing effort, score for fun.

But perhaps the wider question of ‘what now?’ has to go out to the RFU in regards to Borthwick.

The calls for his head were perhaps a bit of a knee-jerk reaction after the Scotland and Ireland losses, but the calls are somewhat more understandable now.

They also appear less rooted in the results themselves, given that it has been just three defeats following a run of 12 victories.

Critics’ cries point towards a lack of passion

Instead, fans and ex-players alike are furious at the style of performances, which from the outside looked to be void of passion and determination.

It may still be a silly time for Borthwick to go, considering that his tenure has largely been building towards next year’s World Cup.

His methodical, statistic-based coaching and tactical approach have been proven to work. A team does not simply just win 12 on the bounce if they are bad.

Borthwick ball works. The issue is that rugby is the most dynamic it has ever been in regard to tactics during games.

Even the ‘Bomb Squad’ driven South Africa tweak things on a game-by-game basis. England has failed to do that.

The reason the teams higher in the world rankings are as successful as they are is due to the fact that they can tweak and bend their gameplans dependent on the opposition.

The ‘stiff upper lip’ stubbornness problem

England are brilliant right up until the moment it goes wrong, then immediately panic sets in and they look lost.

Sadly, it seems almost systematic of the ‘stiff upper lip’ stubbornness of England in general, of which it could be suggested bleeds into the RFU at times.

England needs to evolve. Yes, the tactic of contestable kicking and semi-blitz defence works and has been refined over the Borthwick era, but it has not evolved or expanded.

England needs to figure out, fast, how to bend and not break during games.

Despite fan unrest, it seems counterintuitive to drop Borthwick now. People have been very quick to forget their record-equalling winning run because of one poor tournament.

Besides, if there was a swap at the top now, the inbound head would only have one autumn and Six Nations to ingrain their footprint on the team, which is not a huge amount of time at all.

The wait goes on

Indeed, most frustrations have been aimed at the coach, but perhaps the players share the blame.

It may be the case that the old guard have to make way now for a ‘new’ England, similar to the refresh a few years ago when we entered the ‘Smiths era’.

Or perhaps England’s issues are more deeply rooted in the grassroots and governing levels.

After all, the wait will go on to at least seven years for a Six Nations title, but even then, that seems unlikely.

Whatever the issue is, be it one or all of the above, it needs to be fixed, and it needs to be soon.

The World Cup is just around the corner and England need to restore the faith of their fans to get everyone onside, not that Scotland, Ireland or Wales would want that, of course!

READ MORE: Steve Borthwick insists RFU backing remains despite England’s Six Nations defeat to Italy