The major weakness holding ‘No 2 in the world’ England back

England’s main challenge on Sunday will be 15 men dressed in yellow. But plenty of thought and consideration will also be given to the man with a whistle, and the little rectangle of yellow in his pocket that has been England’s downfall so often in the last 12 months. Head coach Steve Borthwick has been grumbling that the domestic game in England is officiated differently from the internationals. “A valid point,” says refereeing legend Nigel Owens, but one that is the same for every Test team and “there will be no surprises” when England kick off their autumn against Australia on Sunday. Complaints of his side’s lack of discipline are coming at Borthwick from all angles, with everyone from the RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney to current and ex-England players publicly on his case about it. England had four players sent to the sin bin in their last outing (Photo: AFP) Sweeney said in midweek that Borthwick had told him England are ranked second in the world when they have the full 15 men on the field and “eighth or ninth” when they are down to 14. That should put a rocket up all concerned, with a World Cup less than a year away. Borthwick last week tried to deflect the blame onto the breakdown and contact area being refereed differently in the domestic Premiership. He says England need to get the ball back faster – which means a noted jackaller in Ben Curry will be welcome in Sunday’s team – and to spend less time defending, which by its nature reduces the incidences of penalties and yellow cards.“At Rugby World Cup 2023,” Borthwick said, “this team in the discipline count was very, very good – had excellent habits, understood situations, an experienced group. Really, it’s been the autumn of 2025 into the Six Nations that cost us. “The breakdown and the contact area, the way it is in Prem rugby, is different to Test rugby. That was exemplified by the European round [of matches last month], where the English clubs lost more ball at the breakdown than any other nation, and won less back at the breakdown on the opposition ball than any other nation. There is a situation we need to bridge.” England’s yellow streak Autumn 2025 (three yellows in four matches) Home win vs Australia: Henry Pollock (80+2 mins) Home win vs Fiji: none Home win vs New Zealand: Ben Earl (63) Home win vs Argentina: Alex Coles (77) Six Nations 2026 (nine in five) Home win vs Wales: Maro Itoje (50), Tom Curry (75) Away loss vs Scotland: Henry Arundell (7 & 36), two yellows resulting in a 20-minute red Home loss vs Ireland: Freddie Steward (27), Pollock (41) Away loss vs Italy: Sam Underhill (54), Itoje (63) Away loss vs France: Ellis Genge (40+1) Summer 2026 (six in three) Away loss vs South Africa: Tommy Freeman (70), Guy Pepper (71) Away win vs Fiji: none Away win vs Argentina: Jack van Poortvliet (50), Coles (55), Pollock (73), Emmanuel Iyogun (76) Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio says this argument has been around for years and should not hold water. “The whole idea of being an international player is that you are able to adapt your game to whatever situation,” Dallaglio tells The i Paper. “The refereeing of the Premiership was always very different to Europe. I always found the breakdown in Europe was a shit-show, especially when the French referees couldn’t speak a word of English and they’d just say ‘play on’, and undoubtedly Munster guys would be coming in offside. And then when you go up to the next level, of international rugby, it’s the same again.” Owens, who refereed 100 Tests including the 2015 World Cup final, tells The i Paper: “The breakdown may well be refereed differently in the Premiership, with leniency on players off their feet, and sealing off to protect the ball. They seem to want continuity and high-scoring games at all costs, with scores of 40, 50, 60 points, and you can argue over whether that is good or bad. “But there is inconsistency in every tournament – different things are emphasised in Super Rugby and in the French Top 14 – and when everyone comes together for these autumn Tests, World Rugby has had all the coaches and referees in one room to tell them what will be done. All the coaches will be aware of it. There won’t be any surprise for Steve Borthwick. They will have clarity and direction. “The question for Steve and everyone else is will his coaching team and his players be able to adapt to stronger refereeing, if that is the case World Rugby have made. You’d like to think coaches and professional players will have the ability to adapt.” England have had a referee in camp to advise on things like tackle height and the breakdown (Photo: Getty) Analysis of England’s 18 yellow cards shows 14 of them came in the second half, with a variety of offences such as mistimed foul play in the air like Henry Arundell’s against Scotland in February, and players in contact or at rucks, in their own 22 or much further upfield, putting a hand where it shouldn’t be, or going offside. The only team England have avoided a trip to the sin bin against in the past year was the easybeats of Fiji. And the explanation? It could be a desire to stop an imminent score, or a split-second failure of judging how far they could push the line, which in turn could be due to fatigue or pressure, or the wrong instructions coming through in training. After England shaded a much-needed win on their last outing in Argentina in July, despite having a national-record four men sent to the sin bin, hotshot wing Manny Feyi-Waboso said: “We can’t be finishing games, or having games, where we are down to 13 men. It makes it hard to win.” Former scrum-half Danny Care said then: “England won’t win these big games if they keep doing that.” Read more Jonathan Joseph column: It’s time for Borthwick to unleash England’s magicians Chris Robshaw interview: Prince Harry turned up to our England crisis meeting Sweeney chimed in on Wednesday: “Clearly, discipline is a big issue. They [the England squad] have spent a lot of time and effort working on that.” Borthwick says the England players “discussed it candidly” in a September training camp. He brought in English Test referee Christophe Ridley last week to show the England players the breakdown and contact interpretations they are likely to see this month, with further matches against Japan and New Zealand determining whether they will get through to the Nations Championship final on 29 November. Borthwick reckons the breakdown will be “refined and tidied… going into this Test window.” England supporters will be demanding their own team have cleaned up their act.