England hooker Jamie George has said the squad are "really upset" by a newspaper article claiming the end of their summer tour was marked by player unrest over head coach Steve Borthwick's leadership. A report in the Times says unhappy players wanted summit talks with Borthwick and Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney in Argentina in July. It alleges there are disagreements among Borthwick's wider coaching group and concerns over his man-management skills.
England meet Australia in the Nations Championship on Sunday at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, with George querying the timing of the article as well as its contents. The Saracens hooker said that he did not recognise the situation described by the article. "I can tell you that a lot of it's untrue," George told Rugby Union Weekly. "We, as a squad, are incredibly disappointed by it." He added that the timing of the article, two days out from their first Test match, was clearly intended to be divisive. "This is going to galvanise us, it's going to make us tighter," he said. "We speak a lot about standing up for people, we speak a lot about helping each other, and we've got to make sure that we do that for Steve." Borthwick himself told Rugby Union Weekly that the depiction was not something he recognised, emphasising that meetings between senior players and coaches are a feature of most coaching set-ups. He said: "As senior players part of our job is to challenge Steve.
Steve is so open to us giving feedback and having challenge." England's autumn campaign begins against Australia on Sunday.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing