Steve Borthwick has asserted that his England players were not adequately prepared for Test rugby when they commenced their autumn internationals, following Saturday's loss to South Africa which extended their losing streak. In what might be seen as an indirect acknowledgment of the impact of Aled Walters' departure, Borthwick has potentially angered Premiership clubs by stating that his players' 'condition' was not 'where it needed to be' at the beginning of the month.

England has now lost all three of their autumn Tests and five consecutive matches for the first time since 2018. Borthwick has maintained that he has 'absolute support' from the Rugby Football Union, and it is understood that his employers have no intention of dismissing the head coach despite England's current predicament.

On the eve of England's autumn campaign, the RFU revealed that 17 players would receive enhanced contracts as part of the new eight-year £264m Professional Game Partnership, which grants Borthwick more control over his squad, particularly in terms of strength and conditioning. This initiative is also intended to foster greater alignment in playing styles.

During the summer, Borthwick faced a setback when Walters, his former head of strength and conditioning, resigned and moved to Ireland. Additionally, the long-standing strength and conditioning coach Tom Tombleson also departed over the summer. Although he has been replaced by Dan Tobin, Borthwick was prevented from bringing in Phil Morrow from Saracens to fill Walters' role for the autumn.

Prior to England's first autumn defeat against New Zealand, Borthwick took his squad to a warm-weather training camp in Girona. However, he believes his players were not in the optimal physical condition at the start of the campaign. In their defeats by New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, England struggled in the final 20 minutes. South Africa's head coach, Rassie Erasmus, questioned England's fitness levels to sustain their aggressive defense before his team's 29-20 victory at Twickenham.

Following the defeat, Borthwick commented, 'Clearly, we have faced a series of very strong teams that have emerged from the Rugby Championship, so they are battle-hardened. At the start of this series, the condition of the players was not quite where it needed to be for Test match rugby, for teams stepping straight into Test match rugby.'

England will conclude their autumn campaign against Eddie Jones's Japan on Sunday, a fixture they are expected to win convincingly. Jones was in charge the last time England lost five consecutive matches before Danny Cipriani inspired a hard-fought victory over South Africa in Cape Town. Borthwick, who was Jones's assistant at the time, revealed that the pair had been in contact last week. The pressure on Borthwick will intensify if Japan manages an upset victory.

Borthwick, who was at the Stoop on Sunday to observe several England hopefuls in the A side's 38-17 win over their Australian counterparts, is anticipated to make changes to his matchday squad. Tom Curry and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso are likely to be available again after head injuries ruled them out of Saturday's defeat, with Borthwick keen to halt the losing streak before planning for the Six Nations campaign that begins against Ireland and France.

'I think we have a lot of very talented players in our squad,' he said. 'I anticipate there will be one or two changes from [Saturday's] squad. We will prepare for this as thoroughly as possible. Our aim is to deliver a performance that is a step above what we have shown so far.'

England has conceded 12 tries in their three autumn matches, having also lost their defense coach Felix Jones over the summer. Borthwick, who appointed Joe El-Abd in his place, acknowledged that the defense needed improvement, but full-back Freddie Steward firmly supported the head coach and insisted that the players must take responsibility.

'We almost let him down,' Steward said. 'I don't think the fault should be attributed to him at all. As players, we had a gameplan that positioned us to win that game [against South Africa]. We need to examine ourselves as to why we didn't pull away at the end and regain the lead.'

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