Steve Borthwick mulls changes after England defeat to Ireland — and explains Maro Itoje decision

Itoje played just 54 minutes of his 100th cap before being replaced by Alex Coles

(Getty Images)

England head coach Steve Borthwick has admitted that he will have to consider changes after a record defeat to Ireland at Twickenham – though defended Maro Itoje’s fitness despite again taking his captain off early.

The hosts were outclassed in a 42-21 defeat at the Allianz Stadium that all but ended their already fading title hopes as England suffered a second defeat on the spin.

The manner of the loss was striking, too, following up a similarly sloppy showing in Scotland to raise some tough questions for a side that had entered this Six Nations on a run of 11 consecutive victories.

Maro Itoje's 100th cap ended early and in a heavy defeat (Getty Images)

England were again let down by a horror start that saw Ireland seize a 22-0 advantage. Borthwick went to his bench early, bringing on hooker Jamie George for Luke Cowan-Dickie before the half-hour mark and introducing Marcus Smith at full-back just prior to the half-time interval.

Itoje, meanwhile, played just 54 minutes of his 100th cap before being replaced by Alex Coles. The lock is usually an 80-minute man for Borthwick but had endured a disrupted build-up to the Six Nations campaign due to both injury and the death of his mother.

“I think Maro is in very good condition,” Itoje’s head coach stressed. “I think his sharpness will continue to develop. Ultimately, if you look from the end of the autumn to now, he only was able to play a couple of games due to an injury, but I think he will get fitter and fitter over this next period.”

Borthwick, who also saw scrum half Alex Mitchell go off early with a soft tissue injury, also conceded that he may have to consider changes in personnel and strategy after back-to-back defeats.

Alex Mitchell (second left) suffered a soft tissue injury (Getty Images)

“I’ve been really clear on objectives for improvement,” Borthwick said. “We’ll look very closely at that over the next two days, so that we reconvene with the players that we ensure we’re specific about what we improve.

“The team’s been very good at games that have been tight, even if we’ve gone one or two scores down and then been excellent in the second half and always come through to find a way to win. Unfortunately, for two games running now, we’ve given the opposition too much of a head start, giving ourselves a mountain to climb. We certainly need to address that.

“My job over the next couple of days is to be really clear about that. Look at how I’ve set the team up over the last 18 months that’s led to consistently high-level performance and results, and look at that for the last couple of games, and then decide on what needs to change. I’ll look at the medical status of all the players and then understand what we need to do going forward.”

Marcus Smith could be considered for a start against Italy (Getty Images)

After the fallow week, England take on Italy in Rome before finishing their campaign against Six Nations favourites France in Paris. They will head to Verona to train between those two fixtures, rather than returning home.

One of Marcus Smith and George Furbank, who is back to full fitness, could come under consideration at full-back ahead of Freddie Steward, while Borthwick may also mull giving Fin Smith a start at fly half.

Jack van Poortvliet and Ben Spencer are the options within the squad to replace Mitchell if the scrum half is ruled out, and Chandler Cunningham-South’s physicality could see the versatile Harlequins forward make his first appearance of the campaign.