SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Defeat to Scotland is a harsh lesson for England’s new regime

It was a fantastic game at Twickenham on Saturday, and Scotland deserved to win because they had more in their rear division. England has a lot to work on. Steve Borthwick must learn hard lessons from losing his first game in charge of him.

I remain very positive about Borthwick’s appointment as head coach. But he and his team will have to realize what it takes to succeed at Six Nations level very quickly if they are to turn things around.

I think if England had won the game last night they might have learned the wrong lessons so a loss could benefit them in the long run.

There were three main things that frustrated me about the England display. The first was that Jack van Poortvliet’s kick in the box was consistently too long. I wrote in my column before the game that England couldn’t afford to kick Scotland’s back three loosely. That is exactly what happened.

Duhan van der Merwe’s stunning attempt was what I talked about earlier in the week about today’s Six Nations players creating iconic moments that fans will remember forever.

The loss to Scotland taught Steve Borthwick and his new regime many hard lessons.

Scotland deserved to win the tense clash, but there are several things England must learn now.

It was a brilliant effort, but from an England perspective it came about because Van Poortvliet’s clearance did not allow his teammates to compete for possession.

Van der Merwe was allowed all the time in the world to return the ball and, to his credit, he did so brilliantly. I’m sure Kevin Sinfield would have been disappointed by the England defence.

I am equally sure that when Sinfield reviews the game he will ask why the England players kicked for so long.

You either kick short to compete or go as far as possible to hit the turf and convert the opposition defense. England did neither and was stuck in a halfway house. They paid the price for doing that with the Van der Merwe attempt.

The other pivotal moment came after Ellis Genge’s attempt. Genge’s effort was an excellent score and he showed what England can do when playing with pace. He came at a crucial moment in the game and when it happened I thought he would be the key to England winning. But straight from the Scotland restart England called.

That kind of mistake is an absolute killer for a head coach. Scotland scored immediately from the field position which gave them the error. You cannot legislate for that as a coach.

My final point is Borthwick’s decision to replace Genge and Kyle Sinckler. I thought both supports were having great games. Mako Vunipola and Dan Cole are very experienced test operators, but I would have kept Genge and Sinckler to continue the momentum.

Jamie George played the entire game on the front row, so why couldn’t Genge or Sinckler?

Duhan van der Merwe’s stunning try was an iconic Six Nations moment fans will remember

I thought Ellis Genge (C) and Kyle Sinckler were having exceptional games, which made it confusing why Borthwick decided to replace the pairing with Dan Cole and Mako Vunipola.

I’m sure England defense coach Kevin Sinfield (L) will be disappointed in them today.

Scotland have good players. They are a good team. They played with breadth and skill and were well guided by Finn Russell. Jamie Ritchie also had an excellent game as captain.

For England, things are not going to change overnight. There will be disappointment at Scotland’s loss, but he wouldn’t make any big personnel changes for Italy.

At the start of a new era for English rugby, when players are getting used to how Borthwick wants to operate, continuity in the squad is vital.

There were many positives against Scotland and the attack showed promising signs. Nick Evans hasn’t had much time with the team, so he bodes well for the future.

Against Italy, I want England to focus on playing pace more consistently. They scored some good tries against Scotland when they did that.

When they didn’t and slowed the ball down to box kicks, they not only looked less dangerous but also executed poorly. That got them in trouble.

With all due respect to Italy, England should be too good for them. But performance will be just as important, if not more important, than the result if Borthwick is to get his team’s Six Nations back on track.