Calls for emergency replacement for Borthwick following latest England flop

Irate England fans and pundits are calling for a change the top after head coach Steve Borthwick oversaw England's latest calamitous flop, this time a first-ever loss to Fiji.

The Flying Fijians played brilliantly and deserve huge credit for their historic 30-22 win, but the metaphorical crosshairs are once again pointed at Borthwick and his coaching ticket.

It's England's fifth loss in six games, with each performance seemingly worse than the last.

Former England flyhalf Andy Goode wrote on Twitter that: "So England Rugby are at our lowest ever ebb. (And we were bad when I played for England) It started with Eddie and has continued with his protege Borthwick. I reckon it cost about £1.5 million to sack Eddie & buy these coaches, Bill Sweeney made these decisions and had a pay rise."

He also tweeted "#Borthwickout", which has received over 700 likes to date, and is being picked up and tweeted by other users of the platform.

Well-known rugby journalist Neil Fissler suggested that England now need to hire someone to take over the reins immediately, writing on the social media platform that: "Steve Borthwick is totally out of his depth as England coach. Need to get rid of him now. Forget the cost get in Baxter permanently or Diamond for the World Cup... Anyone else thinking Borthwick looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights... Borthwick lacks of the charisma to turn this around. Unfortunately history could be remembering him as our worst ever national coach."

Fans weren't any kinder, with many demanding Borthwick be sacked immediately. "Is it possible to sack borthwick pre-world cup?" asked one fan, while another wrote: "sack Borthwick right now, might actually give us a chance of gett8ng [sic] out of the group at the WC. Possibly the worst appointment of coach in a long long time."

Earlier in the week BBC rugby broadcaster Sonja McLaughlan pointed to some rather ugly England stats that suggest England are making anything but progress. "Borthwick talks of ‘progress’ England have lost 4 of last 5 tests. Tries scored 4 Tries against 20 Huge improvement needed and fast."

There were some defending Borthwick, with former Gallagher Premiership PR supremo Paul Morgan writing; "What is clear is if anyone can turn this around Borthwick can and the team that faces Argentina will be significantly different and better!"

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