Selection debates, injuries and their record of knife-edged wins and losses make it possible to believe in any of three very different scenarios playing out over the next two months.
England’s opening three matches are away to Ireland and at home to France and Scotland, and a cursory comparison of recent form and results would make it no huge shock if England were to lose all three.
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On the last point, there is nothing to stop Borthwick putting more of his ideas out there, as Stuart Lancaster and Clive Woodward sometimes did when they coached England.
The obvious problem is that results in the here and now can never be completely ignored. So is Borthwick on the brink of the sack if results go badly?
Borthwick’s boss, the RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney, may have denied there is a target of four victories in the Six Nations, but the win ratio across the year from July to June does link to a financial bonus, and Borthwick is already guaranteed to miss a proportion of this.
Sweeney said last week of these reviews: “Everything is discussed in there, warts and all. Did defence work, did attack work, how could it be improved, data which is produced from it, how did the backroom staff perform, psychological… you name it, everything that’s associated with running a high-performance team.
Anyone inclined to cut Borthwick some slack could point to the England players currently off limits to him in the French league – the RFU policy of keeping them at home has failed, in simple terms.
Then there are England’s results in 2024, by when Borthwick’s fingerprints were properly on the team. In 10 matches against Six Nations and Rugby Championship opposition, England won three: against Italy by three points, Wales by two and Ireland by one in the last minute.
England have a habit of going down to the wire (Photo: PA)So, how to interpret that? Borthwick described his team after last year’s win over Wales as one who “stays in the fight and finds a way” – but, too often, the second part was missing.
It doesn’t help that obvious difference-makers including Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, George Furbank and Jamie George are currently injured. Ollie Chessum is among those of whom great things are expected, but may need a bit more time than their injuries and the schedule are allowing.
The sunlit uplands
In this scenario, those fine margins of 2024 – when England were a kick by George Ford and a restart catch by Maro Itoje away from beating New Zealand and Australia in the autumn – would be transformed by a tad more experience, effort, clarity of thought and a slice of luck into a wondrous 2025!
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Read MoreSimilarly, the optimistic view is Henry Slade and Lawrence have bedded in now and are about to unleash the best England centre partnership since Jeremy Guscott and Will Carling.
Hopefully the new wing Cadan Murley will be gleefully running in the tries, or Marcus Smith, whose goal-kicking has been on point this season, will be potting penalties and kicking the corners.
And Borthwick will gaze serenely down his beautifully battered nose as England nick a win in Dublin, then laugh in the face of Antoine Dupont at Twickenham a week later, and flay the Scotland record of five wins and a draw in the last seven meetings. That would leave only the Italians and Welsh to roll over for a Grand Slam – simple!
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