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England have been predictably slayed for their record home loss to France in the Six Nations championship though the critics seem as shocked as Steve Borthwick’s stunned side.
France triumphed 53-10 in a seven-tries-to-one humiliation as Twickenham.
As the inquest starts with England now facing championship leaders Ireland next weekend, the limp red rose plates will have to shut out plenty of noise.
“They might be in the same hemisphere as England but these two sides are on different planets. At the end of the match, England were bedraggled, battered and humiliated,” the Daily Mail’s rugby correspondent Oliver Holt wrote.
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His stable mate, former England coach Sir Clive Woodward, was no less harsh in his column.
“I never thought I would see such humiliation. The road to recovery from this defeat promises to be long and painful,” Woodward wrote in his column.
He said he had to check the scoreboard two or three times after finishing up his TV commentary work to believe what he had seen.
“Unfortunately, the nightmare was very much a reality. I never thought I’d see an England team concede 50 points to any side at home in the Six Nations.
“The hammering by France was a sobering reality check of where English rugby is right now. We knew we were far behind Ireland and France, but not this far.
“What is most depressing about the result is that there were no real issues with the England team.”
Former Ireland fullback Rob Kearney was forthright in his condemnation of the men in white.
“England have been dreadful,” he said during his post-match analysis.
“No ambition. They don’t want to play any rugby … it’s pretty abysmal.”
Borthwick has taken over from the sacked Australian Eddie Jones and quickly discovered how demanding the test coaching environment is.
Former England No 10 Andy Goode lay some of the blame with Jones.
“Pants down, massive skids on show, who takes 50 at home, we do,” wrote Goode on his Twitter account.
“Awful day for England showing how far we’ve slipped under Eddie Jones and now how far behind we are under Borthwick.”
Stephen Jones at The Times also felt Jones had much to answer for.
“The blunt truth is that England were booed again on the final whistle and there were aspects of their performance which were catastrophic,” he wrote.
“Steve Borthwick, the head coach, has been left with the dregs of a team by Eddie Jones, and nothing more.
“Who would swap with Borthwick? He was dealt a hand by Jones which had very few decent cards.”
On a day when England rugby would be heavily scrutinised for their shortcomings, Stephen Jones felt the magic from France needed to be emphasised.
“This was glorious. It was gorgeous. It was absolutely devastating and compelling. It was France playing brilliant rugby in the modern idiom but based squarely on their heritage of skill and pace and attack,” he wrote.
Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio said the team’s shortcomings started up front.
“In short, this was men against boys. We were undressed by a very good French pack,” he wrote for The Times.
Dallaglio felt the result backed up his earlier theories about this year’s World Cup in France.
“There are only four teams – Ireland, France, New Zealand and South Africa – which have a realistic chance of winning this year’s World Cup (shame all four of them are on the same side of the draw).
“They are the real Tier One nations. England languish in a middle tier with Australia, Argentina and Scotland.
“When you take on those top four nations, you are dining at rugby’s top table. On Saturday, France turned up to the banquet in their dinner jackets. England were wearing soiled overalls.”
England captain Owen Farrell didn’t dodge the disaster when he fronted the media.
“As an England player you never expect to be in this situation,” Farrell said.
“I don’t think you ever expect to lose like that at home as an England team. You don’t expect to lose like that anywhere as an England team.
“The result and the scoreline are hugely disappointing for us. It’s never nice. Most of the people in the changing room have been through it at some stage. Not normally with England – definitely not normally with England.
“I’m gutted. Everybody in the changing room is disappointed to lose in the fashion that we did.”
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