- Jamie George backed England to make a surprise attack on Six Nations glory
- Steve Borthwick’s side overcame a brave performance from Italy to win their opener
- England will look to continue the momentum when they host Wales next Saturday
England captain Jamie George told his team to play without fear and launch a surprise attack on the Six Nations title as he admitted players were afraid of making mistakes.
After topping Italy in Rome, England expect prop Ellis Genge and striker George Martin to be back in contention for next week’s match against Wales.
Ireland are strong favorites to win the title after their stunning 38-17 victory over France in Marseille on Friday evening, but George believes his new squad can cause an upset.
“I don’t want anyone involved in this team if they don’t really believe that we can challenge the best and win this tournament,” the hooker said.
“Watching Ireland on Friday night they were very impressive. There aren’t many teams that go to France and perform like that.
Jamie George insisted England must play with confidence to secure Six Nations glory
Tommaso Allan scored a try, two conversions and a penalty in a dominant first half for Italy
But England rallied late and fought back to end their disappointing recent record in opening matches
“It’s a blueprint for us, and for every team, to look at how they approached that game. We will maintain the pace at which we need to learn – and we need to make sure we learn those lessons, being very clear about what we want to do. We have a great opportunity to get back in front of our fans and really give them something to smile about,” said George.
England made their five-player debut in Rome, with rookie flanker Ethan Roots named man of the match.
Head coach Steve Borthwick said: “It was great to see five players make their debuts in the Six Nations, which doesn’t happen very often.
‘It was a special day to be involved with them at the start of their career in England. Just chatting to them in the dressing rooms, they’re going to wear the England shirt for a long time and they’re going to play together for a number of years, which is exciting because we’ve got quite a few players coming back. in.
‘But especially Ethan Roots made his debut, played 80 minutes and felt very much at home, he was excellent.’
England won despite a last-minute squad change, with Genge withdrawing 90 minutes before kick-off. Providing an update on the vice-captain, Borthwick added: ‘We are hopeful that Ellis will be available next week. Had a scan of his foot on Friday morning. It was an acute recurrence of something that happened in the past. We got the scans back on Friday evening and I’m hopeful it will be available next week.’
England host Wales at Twickenham in the second round and will go into the match with words of encouragement from the coach.
Steve Borthwick stressed his side must build on their momentum when they take on Wales in the second round
Borthwick has told his players to shake off the fear that has dominated England’s rugby teams in recent years – describing this as going back to his own time as a player.
There have been meetings in recent weeks about the evolution of the team as they enter a new era without Owen Farrell, and George added: ‘We are very fortunate that our coaching staff are very clear about how we want to approach things. As a player that just means we have to have the courage to do it.
“Sometimes, at the highest level, at Test level, the pressure comes on. You may want to sit back and worry about not making a mistake. That has been the case before. What pleased me most today was that we were passed a few times in the first half. Did that take anything away from our line speed? Absolutely not. We had the courage to keep going after them.’
Winger Tommy Freeman added: ‘We want to be the champions of Europe. We’ll be back home next week, in front of the English fans. We want to put on a show for them, a performance in England, something they can remember.’