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Bundee Aki's take on Steve Borthwick's struggling England side
By PA
Ireland centre Bundee Aki believes Steve Borthwick’s England will only get better after they ended a forgettable Guinness Six Nations campaign with a steely display against the Grand Slam champions in Dublin.
The Red Rose, who replaced Eddie Jones with Borthwick in December, endured another underwhelming championship, finishing fourth having lost three of their five matches for the third consecutive year.
A record-breaking round-four 53-10 humiliation against France at Twickenham was a major low for the 2019 World Cup finalists, who also suffered Calcutta Cup disappointment at home to Scotland on the opening weekend.
Yet, despite playing half of Saturday’s match at the Aviva Stadium with 14 men following a red card for Freddie Steward, England fought until the end against the world’s top-ranked side to restore some pride in a creditable 29-16 loss.
Aki backed Ireland’s rivals to emerge from a tricky transitional phase as a far stronger outfit, with the start of the World Cup less than six months away.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” he said. “We knew that England are a great team.
“Obviously they’ve had their little learning curves throughout this campaign and they can only go better. They’re a great team, they’re coached well and they’ve got unbelievable players.
“We knew they were going to come out and get us, and fair play to the boys for sticking that out.”
While Borthwick and England have plenty to ponder, Ireland’s remarkable rise continues.
British and Irish Lion Aki hailed the title-winning heroics as a career highlight and feels there is more to come.
The Connacht player also expressed hope 37-year-old Ireland captain Johnny Sexton, who is expected to retire following the World Cup, will play again in the Six Nations as he aimed a playful dig at his veteran team-mate.
“We’re creating something special and we’ve just got to grab it with two hands and go with it,” said Aki.
“It was an incredible atmosphere. I’ve never ever seen anything like it.
“It’s up there, top of the ranks. St Paddy’s weekend, Grand Slam, a few guys’ milestones, Josh Van Der Flier’s 50th (cap), Johnny – it could potentially be his last Six Nations.
“Hopefully not, hopefully he can come back again. He’s very young, 45 years of age, so he can still go again.”
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Latest Comments
So the number of minutes is what measures merit?
With and without him, not the same team. 3 titles in 4 tournaments, with a third place on the first one.
Look at other 15s stars who tried and didn’t perform like Habana.
Look at Keenan.
If that’s not an impact… Look at Squidge reaction on the matter.
And if you want to look at minutes, you should say Jesse Kriel should’ve have taken the POTY over Du Toit.
The guy started 7s in January.
And won the Champions Cup and the Top14 in between those 7s competitions. A week after his immense performance against Leinster, he won the Grand Final in Madrid.
Award given due to star power? He proved all year that he’s deserves his star status by winning it all, except for 1 tournament in Vancouver.
And 1 defeat in 15s.
Go to commentsI think the ratings were mostly fair tbh, the simple fact is that Borthwick is being far to loyal to some players who are clearly well past their sell by date, this coupled with the fact that England currently don't have any truly world class operators and we are where we are.
I also think that poor decisions were made in selection in regard to Henry Slade and George martin, neither of whom appeared fully fit after lengthy lay offs pre series.
The decision to pick Tom curry given his concussion issues also showed a lack of judgement.
Borthwick and his coaching team are very callow in international coaching terms, and it's shows!!
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