LONDON — Ellis Genge expressed his apologies to the England supporters and mentioned that the team had become overly confident after suffering a record 42-21 loss to Ireland in the Six Nations at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, on Saturday.
England’s performance was disappointing, while Ireland excelled. Ireland outperformed England with five tries to three, dominating the breakdown and effectively dismantling England’s lineout.
After the match, Steve Borthwick lamented their first-half display, noting that for the second consecutive week, they had left themselves with too much to recover from, following their 31-20 loss to Scotland in Edinburgh the previous week.
This outcome severely undermines England’s aspirations for their first Six Nations title since 2020.
“For two weeks in a row, we have conceded too many points in the first 15 minutes,” Genge told the BBC. “After that, there is a significant challenge ahead, and everyone needs to reflect on their performance.
“Currently, no one has the solution, or we would have addressed it. It has reopened wounds from last week; we must improve our management of that phase and reduce turnovers.
“Professional sport is harsh because if you make a 5% error, it can cost you. We likely bought into the hype from the first week too much. We cannot allow external noise to affect us now. I apologize to the fans; you have been incredible, and we have disappointed everyone. I assure you we will improve. We are committed to working diligently to correct our mistakes.”
Borthwick will conduct a thorough analysis of England’s first-half difficulties. During that initial 40 minutes, Borthwick made two tactical changes, substituting both Luke Cowan-Dickie and Freddie Steward.
England found themselves 22-0 down after 30 minutes, with Steward also receiving a yellow card. Although they managed to score just before halftime, a yellow card for Henry Pollock at the beginning of the second half stifled any potential comeback.
– Six Nations: England player ratings after record defeat to Ireland
– England’s Six Nations hopes shattered after five-star Ireland run riot in record Twickenham win
– Six Nations players to watch: Can Pollock start for England? Bielle-Biarrey shines for France
“It was extremely disappointing, and full credit to Ireland; they capitalized on their chances, and their kicking game was superb,” Borthwick stated. “This team has been very effective for quite some time in closely contested matches, even when trailing by a score or two, showing strength in the second half and consistently finding a way to win that period.
“Regrettably, for two weeks now, we have created a significant challenge for ourselves, allowing the opposition too many points and lacking scoreboard presence. We will examine this closely and how I configure the team to prevent it from recurring.”
Maro Itoje, in his 100th appearance, remarked: “Ultimately, we lacked accuracy. We were not precise around the breakdown, and when we had chances in Ireland’s 22, we failed to capitalize on them.
“We need to focus on ensuring that when we have territory and opportunities, we convert them.”
