If you’d have said to any England fan this time last year that they would end 2025 with a run of 11 successive Test victories, they would have likely laughed you out the door.
The 2024 Autumn Nations Series campaign was a tale of ‘what if’ for England. The width of the post and a missed drop-goal denied them a win over the All Blacks, a stunning 83rd-minute effort from Max Jorgensen saw the Wallabies win a week later, and despite a strong fight, they eventually fell to the Springboks.
A win against Japan saved Steve Borthwick’s side from an unwanted 0-4 record, and proved only a momentary break from the losers column too as England slipped to a 27-22 defeat to Ireland at the start of the Six Nations.
But that Dublin defeat has since proved to be a turning point for England.
‘We said there was a journey’
Wins over France, Scotland, Italy, Wales, Argentina (three), USA, the Wallabies, Fiji and the All Blacks have seen England mount a run of 11 straight Test victories, seeing them climb up to third in the World Rugby rankings at the end of the Test year.
It might have got you laughed out of the pub if you dared even to speak it last year, but it’s now very much England’s reality.
“The team is tracking on the progress we’ve talked about,” says Borthwick, fresh from his side’s 27-23 win over Los Pumas.
“We said there was a journey and about the level of experience, games together and the experience coming off the bench; that’s always something we need to develop, and this autumn series has allowed us to continue that.
“It’s tough Test matches against teams who are coming off long periods of preparation. Ours was a little bit different, but I’m really pleased with the way the players have jumped into it.”
“When we were in that tough patch, it was only fine margins,” adds full-back Freddie Steward. “The whole time we were saying, ‘we’re not far away, we’re close’. Now, we’ve learned how to win and how to come out on the right side of those games.
“We’ve been fantastic in Q4. The depth we have now is phenomenal. With the competitiveness in the squad, everyone is fighting for their shirt and that’s bringing the best out of everyone.
“It’s never easy when you are going through a tough patch. To be fair to a large portion of the fans, they stuck with us. It’s nice now that we can show to them that it was all worth it. We’ve stuck with it, we’ve bought into what we are doing, and now it is paying off.”
The run itself is impressive, particularly given where England were 12 months ago, but it’s also the manner of victories that has helped change the narrative surrounding the team.
Borthwick’s decision to roll out the ‘Pom Squad’ has become a real talking point, with some of his more high-profile names handed spots on the bench rather than in the starting XV. That in turn has seen newer names like Fin Baxter and Guy Pepper prove themselves against the big guns, while still having an insurance plan to fall back on.
‘It’s tracking well’
The full effect of the ‘Pom Squad’ can be seen in the stats, too. Nine of their 17 tries this autumn came after the 53rd minute (the average time they would be rolled off the bench), and posted an aggregate score of 57-17 in the final 27 minutes of the four Tests.
“We’ve got players who have been in the Test arena more often,” says the head coach. “I’ve said that we need to develop depth, experience and time together in camp. The England team doesn’t have a huge amount of time together; the southern hemisphere teams have been together for four months now, we’ve been together for four weeks. What we do is maximise every minute together. It’s tracking well.”
“I’d go back to the depth of the squad now,” Steward echoes. “You look at the quality of the bench and the quality of the players coming on. When you look to your left and see the likes of Curry, Pollock, Gengey when he is on the bench running on the pitch, it gives you that extra boost. You’ve got Lions there coming on to try and win the game and that’s been a massive part of our strategy.”
Around that, too, England’s attack has again shown signs of serious progress under new coach Lee Blackett.
Across their autumn campaign, England scored an average of 4.25 tries a game (17 in four Tests) – a figure that would score them a bonus point in every PREM match – while also posting 23 line breaks as well.
“Lee is a class operator,” Steward says of the new attack coach. “You saw what he achieved in very little time over in Argentina in the summer. I’ve absolutely loved working with him. The way he coaches, he’s got this really dry sense of humour and a great rapport with the lads.
“He’s got phenomenal detail. The lads have really taken his coaching in their stride, really bought into it, and you’re starting to see some of the bits out there. I think Steve said our average tries to game is up to four and a half this year, so the attack is certainly improving and Lee is a massive part of that.
“I don’t think it (the system) is notably different. Wiggy was a fantastic attack coach, and Lee has been fantastic in taking what Wiggy has done and building on that.
“The boys now are excited to get the ball to edges, excited to beat defenders, and that is the message that has been conveyed in the week. It’s good to see that on the pitch.”
England have now put themselves in a strong position heading into the Six Nations early next year, leapfrogging both Ireland and France in the World Rankings while extending the gap on Scotland, Italy and Wales as well, and could arguably be positioning themselves as early contenders to dethrone the Springboks at the 2027 World Cup in Australia, and that is a feeling that leaves the playing group salivating.
Exciting times
“It’s just exciting,” says captain Maro Itoje. “I’ve been a part of the England team for a number of years now, and I’m as excited as I’ve ever been.
“If you look at the quality of depth and play (in game), players are getting on board with how we want to play. We need to keep building.”
However, titles are not won on paper alone, and with the prospect of going toe-to-toe with Les Bleus, Ireland and possibly Scotland for the title, Itoje knows his side have to keep getting better.
“You only have to look at this game and see there’s so much work we need to do, but there’s a real appetite amongst the playing group to do that.”
“I think there’s plenty of things to work upon as well,” Borthwick echoes. “In many ways, as a coach, you manage to find ways to get the win.
“I’ll go in and study this period hard and make sure we’re really clear on what we’re going to get better at coming to Six Nations.”
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