Blog

After victories against Italy and Wales in the opening two rounds of the Guinness Six Nations, England’s progress, or possibly lack thereof, was brought into question on Saturday with a 30-21 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield.

In the wake of the defeat, many have been scrambling to work out just what is going wrong with England- whether these are the growing pains of a side in transition or whether there are chronic issues, chiefly their lacklustre attack, that are not being resolved.

Hanyani Shimange recently questioned whether England currently have the right players at their disposal on RPTV’s Boks Office, and whether head coach Steve Borthwick is under pressure after the Eddie Jones era.

NORTH vs SOUTH: Rhys Patchell on the differences he’s seen since playing in NZ

Welsh fly-half Rhys Patchell weighs in on the differences between playing for the Scarlets back home and where he is playing now, with the Highlanders in New Zealand

NORTH vs SOUTH: Rhys Patchell on the differences he’s seen since playing in NZ

Welsh fly-half Rhys Patchell weighs in on the differences between playing for the Scarlets back home and where he is playing now, with the Highlanders in New Zealand

Former World Cup winner Schalk Burger joined Shimange on the podcast, and added that England do have a hangover from the Jones era, but said that their issues lie deeper than that.

The former Saracens flanker said that the current state of the Gallagher Premiership is a greater concern for English rugby, suggesting that it affects the squad depth that the national team will have.

“I think the problem runs deeper than [the Jones hangover],” the 2007 World Cup winner said.

“If you look at where the Premiership sits at the moment, that for me is a big issue. A lot of big senior players will have to make big steps now to move to France. You see a guy like Owen Farrell going away from Saracens. If the league suffers, your squad depth suffers as well.

“So the RFU will have to have a look at the structuring around their competition. When I was there five years ago, there was a big call to make it closed – twelve teams, let’s make it closed and grow this thing together instead of promotion and relegation.

“Unfortunately that did not happen and they lost big names within them- London Irish, Wasps, Worcester Warriors.

“I think it’s going to be hard for them to rejig the system. I do think there are good enough players, but it’s about them finding an identity that works for them.”