Progress or standing still - where are England under Borthwick?

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, 'Chaos' & 'comedy refereering' as England beat Argentina By Alastair Telfer BBC Sport journalist Published 12 minutes ago Pressure was on England for their summer Nations Championship fixtures after the Rugby Football Union backed head coach Steve Borthwick in May, following the country's worst Six Nations performance since the tournament's expansion in 2000. Given England managed only one victory in the Six Nations, a tough defeat to world champions South Africa at Ellis Park was never going to carry too much weight, only if wins followed against Fiji and Argentina. They did - just - as Borthwick's side completed their "brutal" summer schedule, which included more than 25,000 miles of travel. As the 2027 Rugby World Cup continues to creep closer, where are England under Borthwick, and do their Nations Championship performances point to progress? Discipline remains a red flag Having received the highest number of cards (eight yellows, two of which combined for a red) of any team in a Six Nations campaign since Italy in 2002, the RFU flagged England's ill-discipline as an area that had to improve this summer. In short, it has not. Former scrum-half Matt Dawson described England's discipline as "verging on comical" after their number of yellow cards for the year reached 14 in the chaotic 31-24 controversial win over Argentina. "I don't think now is the time to be digging into that," Borthwick said of his side's discipline in the aftermath of the victory in Santiago del Estero. But when is the right time? An emphatic 73-8 win over Fiji in Liverpool ended a five-game losing run and was the only match this year in which England did not receive a yellow card. Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper were sent to the sin-bin late on against the Springboks. Former England scrum-half Danny Care pointed out on BBC's Rugby Union Weekly that, across eight matches in 2026, Borthwick's side have spent more than two hours of rugby without a full complement of players on the pitch. "It is the same stuff. It is not thuggish behaviour or violence," Care said. "It is the little ones that you do not get away with under pressure, and pressure makes you do silly things. "They have to work it out quite quickly. The senior players and coaches have a big job to limit them, as they won't win Test matches against the best teams." Argentina coach accuses England of lack of respect Published 2 days ago Rugby Union Weekly: Have we learnt anything from the Nations Championship? England's discipline 'verging on comical' - Dawson Published 2 days ago To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, England outclassed by South Africa in Nations Championship Feyi-Waboso return helps find cutting edge In July, England scored 125 points - a tally inflated by Fiji's no-show and playing a half with 14 players. England kicked t