Shaw tells under-fire England skipper Borthwick: Our team is right behind you
Last updated 05:15, Friday, 28 November 2008
ENGLAND star Simon Shaw last night echoed team manager Martin Johnson’s support of under-pressure Cumbrian captain Steve Borthwick.
Shaw and Johnson came out fighting this week following criticism of Borthwick’s leadership when England were beaten 28-14 at Twickenham last Saturday.
Borthwick will win his 42nd cap tomorrow when the Carlisle-born lock and lineout tactician leads out England against South Africa, knowing he has the full support of Johnson and the dressing room.
Shaw said: “Steve has my total backing as England captain and the whole squad is right behind him. The mistakes that happened against Australia had nothing to do with leadership and I cannot understand why anyone would believe that was the case.
“The skipper can't spend the match going around every single player telling them where they have just gone wrong while also pushing in the scrum, jumping at the line out, carrying the ball and hitting rucks and mauls. It has to be a collective effort and we have all bought into the way we are going to play.
“As one of the more experienced guys in the squad, along with Steve and Phil Vickery, you do have a responsibility to ensure the younger players keep things in perspective. You don't want them to get too beat up about how things went and to focus on how we can put things right and we can make significant steps this week towards a more mature performance.”
Johnson, a former captain himself, threw a protective arm around Borthwick earlier this week in the aftermath of the defeat.
He said: “Steve’s doing a fantastic job. You don’t see what he does all week off the field. He understands the game, he understands what we’re trying to achieve. He can’t control the actions of 14 other guys.”
With tomorrow’s clash against the Springboks followed by another big test against New Zealand, Borthwick, 29, believes England must improve their discipline if they are to compete with the best sides in world rugby.
England conceded only one try against Australia in their first defeat under Johnson but seven penalties ran up the score on England after indiscipline from the host nation within their own territory.
Borthwick said: “I think we worked very hard on the defensive side and were tremendously competitive, but we need to sharpen up in certain areas where we didn't deliver.
“Clearly we can't give away that many penalties in the kickable zone. We know that and it's unfortunate we gave away too many.
“I am disappointed but there are areas to improve and we'll work on them.”
