South Africa assistant Felix Jones will join England's coaching staff after the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Jones featured 13 times for Ireland during his playing career, before taking on assistant coach roles with Munster and the Springboks.

England are planning ahead after a disappointing Six Nations campaign in which they finished in fourth place, losing three of their five games.

Speaking to the England Rugby website after the future appointment was confirmed, head coach Steve Borthwick expressed his excitement at eventually having Jones on board.

"We are continuing to build our programme to be in a position to compete to be world champions once again," Borthwick said. "At the same time, I also want to ensure we are preparing for long-term success for this England team, and I am excited that a coach as talented as Felix is joining next year.

"Felix has been competing at the top of world rugby during his four years with South Africa and will bring invaluable experience to our set-up. Like with Aled Walters, Felix was an integral part of the team that won the Rugby World Cup in 2019.

"Together with Richard Wigglesworth and Kevin Sinfield, we are putting in place a coaching team who have spent their careers at the highest level competing for trophies. That is exactly what we want for this England team."

Jones has worked with South Africa since 2019, and will join up with assistant Wigglesworth (assistant) and another former Springboks coach in Aled Walters (head of strength and conditioning) as well as Borthwick and Sinfield (defence coach) in 2024, with Wigglesworth and Walters due to come in at the end of the Premiership season.

"Coaching the Springboks is one of the biggest privileges in rugby and I intend to do everything I can to ensure the team is successful until the day my contract comes to its natural end," said Jones.

"The last four years has been an incredible journey for me and my family, both professionally and personally, I am indebted to so many people at the Springboks and in South Africa for that.

"My commitment to the Springboks until the end of the Rugby World Cup is unquestionable, and Rassie [Erasmus, director of rugby], Jacques [Nienaber, head coach] and the entire Springbok team know that.

"The next five months are going to be exciting and demanding, and I'm looking forward to preparing for the World Cup with this coaching team."

Steve Borthwick says he "can't do anything about the past" with England, but the coach is looking forward to a lengthy World Cup build-up after their Six Nations efforts.

The former Leicester Tigers boss took the reins of the national team from Eddie Jones in December, less than a year out from the showpiece tournament in France.

With England having struggled at the end of 2022 under the Australian, Borthwick was unable to completely reverse the rot in a Six Nations campaign that ended with a 29-16 loss to Ireland.

But with just under half a year until they open their World Cup account against Argentina, he intends to use his first taste of the job to put their recent ghosts firmly out of mind.

"We'll debrief this Six Nations thoroughly, take what lessons we take from it and be clear on our direction going forward," he said.

"The team is not where it could be and, while we're judging against teams that have used this four-year cycle tremendously well, that's not the position England are in.

"I can't do anything about the past. I intend we will be working really hard to put England in the best position possible, and I'm excited about what these players can do for the World Cup.

"We get a number of weeks to prepare. Players will then be conditioned for international rugby and understand how we want to play.

"This has been five intense games, and effectively you then have one main training session a week.

"I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to work with the players for a longer period of time. I think we've seen some growth here, but we will see more in that preparation period."

In addition to facing Argentina, England also play Japan, Chile and Samoa in Pool D later this year.

England captain Owen Farrell was "surprised" by Freddie Steward's red card during his team's 29-16 defeat to Ireland in the final round of the Six Nations.

Steward received the contentious red right at the end of the first half after the fullback's shoulder connected with the head of Hugo Keenan.

It was Steward's first red card in what was his 22nd match in Test rugby for his country, and was England's first Six Nations red card since Charlie Ewels was sent off against Ireland last year.

"I was surprised if I am honest," Farrell said after the game. "But it is not up to us, we don't make the rules, we don't put them in place, we don't hear what goes on on the ref mic and the process that they go through. That is the decision they came to and you have to accept it.

"I thought the game was a brilliant contest. I thought it was a brilliant Test match and the way that we reacted after we got that red card was very good.

"I thought we fought for each other and unfortunately we didn't get out the right side of the result which is very disappointing in an England shirt but the reaction to things that didn't go our way – and the card being one of them – especially after last week I thought was brilliant."

England head coach Steve Borthwick would not be drawn on the incident, only explaining his thought process when it happened.

"To be honest, my thinking was, 'Red card, we are down to 14, what is the significance, what do we need to make from a tactical adjustment point of view?'" he said. "Whenever a referee goes through a disciplinary process like that, I'm thinking as a coach, 'Right, if it goes this way, what is the significance?' That is where my head turned to."

He did though eventually add: "If we are talking about tackle height, we can have a conversation about tackle height. That is fine. What was clear there was that Freddie was not trying to make a tackle.

"There will be a disciplinary procedure. It is not right for Owen and me to be talking about the incident. The decision happened and quite rightly the England team respects the decision.

"The players were magnificent on the pitch. They respect the decision that happened, and we talk about how we adapt thereafter. He [Steward] wasn't trying to make a tackle so it's not about tackle height."

Ollie Lawrence has been left out of England's final squad of this year's Six Nations after sustaining a hamstring injury in Saturday's thrashing by France.

Lawrence had started his country's last three Tests, but the centre has been replaced by Guy Porter as Steve Borthwick named his 36-man training camp squad for the trip to Ireland next weekend.

There are returns for George Ford, Jonny Hill and Ollie Hassell-Collins, while Will Collier is also called up and Manu Tuilagi returns from suspension.

Borthwick's men will be hoping to put in a vastly improved performance at the Aviva Stadium after they were on the end of their record home defeat at the hands of France, going down 53-10 at Twickenham.

England hooker Jamie George apologised to fans after the game, with many leaving early after seeing their team concede seven tries to Les Bleus.

"I want to apologise because I'm one of [the fans] really," he said. "I would be gutted if I'd turned up to Twickenham to see an England team play like that.

"We are sorry and we need to make sure that we get better and learn from this experience because it's clear we have a long way to go."

Ireland are on course for a Grand Slam after they beat Scotland 22-7 at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Full England squad:

Forwards: Ollie Chessum, Dan Cole, Will Collier, Ben Curry, Alex Dombrandt, Tom Dunn, Ben Earl, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Jonny Hill, Nick Isiekwe, Maro Itoje, Lewis Ludlam, David Ribbans, Bevan Rodd, Kyle Sinckler, Mako Vunipola, Jack Walker, Jack Willis.

Backs: Henry Arundell, Owen Farrell, Tommy Freeman, George Ford, Ollie Hassell-Collins, Max Malins Joe Marchant, Alex Mitchell, Cadan Murley, Guy Porter, Henry Slade, Marcus Smith, Freddie Steward, Manu Tuilagi, Jack van Poortvliet, Anthony Watson, Ben Youngs.

Clive Woodward never thought he would see the day England were so badly outclassed on home soil after witnessing their record home loss to France.

France crossed over seven times in their astonishing 53-10 victory at Twickenham on Saturday to keep their Six Nations title defence alive.

It is the most points ever conceded by England in a home Test, overtaking the 42 points scored by South Africa in November 2008.

Woodward, who guided the Red Rose to World Cup glory in 2003, was left stunned by his former side's capitulation and is fearing the worst ahead of next week's trip to Ireland.

"England were never going to win that game; we were second best by a long, long way," he told ITV Sport. "To think we're going to play Ireland next week is a sobering thought.

"To actually see that in a Six Nations game... I never thought I'd see that scoreboard ever at Twickenham."

Fellow pundit Johnny Wilkinson described the loss as "a massive reality check" for England, who tasted defeat at home to France for the first time in 18 years.

England have now lost two of their four matches this campaign – Steve Borthwick's first since replacing Eddie Jones in December – and find themselves in fourth place.

Borthwick accepts England were too easily dismantled by France and knows there is a gulf between his side and the world's elite heading into the Rugby World Cup.

"Certainly you have to give immense credit to France and they are clearly a world-class team," he told ITV Sport. "We are really disappointed in that performance. 

"There are lots of things we wanted to do but we couldn't execute. I think we lost collisions across both lines, attack and defence. 

"We knew they have immense power and unfortunately we didn't deal with it. When we attacked they were able to dominate. There is plenty of work on the collision areas

"We got exposed today. I thought we would get a measure of where we are at – there is a big gap between us and the top teams in the world. 

"I don't think it matters what I thought it [the gap] was before; I think we understand where we are and what we have to do."

France were 24 points to the good by half-time – another unwanted record for England in the Six Nations – with 23-point Thomas Ramos opening the scoring inside two minutes.

Thibaud Flament, Charles Ollivon and Damian Penaud all crossed over twice each in a one-sided contest, with Freddie Steward scoring England's only try.

It is the first time in the Six Nations era that three different France players have scored two tries each in a single game.

Reflecting on one of England's all-time worst displays, captain Ellis Genge admitted there can be no excuses.

"I am not going to sugar-coat it. That is one of our worst performances and we were punished numerous times," he said. 

"We asked the boys to keep fighting and I think for 80 per cent of it we were fighting. The momentum was against us for too long and we didn't claw it back. 

"I am not hiding away from it – we were well beaten today. [France] are brilliant. They have shown time and time again why they are the number two team in the world. 

"We are way off where we want to be. If I had the answers I would be somewhere else earning millions. It's a bit of a mystery at the moment."

England captain Owen Farrell has been dropped to the bench for Saturday's clash with France as head coach Steve Borthwick offered no guarantees about his long-term future as skipper.

Marcus Smith will step in at fly-half, while Ellis Genge will captain the side, but Borthwick said Farrell will take over the leadership once he comes on as a replacement.

Farrell's goal-kicking has been poor during this Six Nations campaign and that was one of several factors behind Borthwick's decision.

Ahead of Saturday's match at Twickenham, the decision to demote 104-cap Farrell was the standout selection issue on either side, particularly as it comes so soon in Borthwick's reign, and ahead of a Rugby World Cup later in the year. This will be just Borthwick's fourth game in charge.

Genge was captain under Borthwick during their time together at Leicester Tigers, and it remains to be seen whether the coach sees him occupying the role on a regular basis at international level. This will be his first time captaining England from the start in a Test.

Borthwick knew his selection would be a contentious move, and he said England were in "a fantastic position" to have such strong options at fly-half.

"My job is to select who the right person to start and who the right person to come off the bench is," Borthwick said.

Eddie Jones' successor stressed he made line-up decisions on a game-by-game basis and sidestepped a question about Farrell's long-term future as captain, saying he was focusing only on the France game.

Farrell has been captain since the 2019 Six Nations. Borthwick said the 31-year-old had been "brilliant" in training this week, while also hailing Genge's captaincy qualities. He described Genge as "a fantastic leader, a natural leader, and he's somebody players follow".

"To have Ellis and Owen there, it's two brilliant men that these players get behind," Borthwick added. "I can't praise Owen enough, not just for this week but every day since we've started working together in this capacity. He cares so deeply about this team."

Asked about Farrell's kicking problems in relation to the team selection, Borthwick said: "I consider every aspect as I try to do this job as thoroughly as possible.

"I think if you were to track all the teams I've selected over the last few years, there have been some pretty bold decisions. I think what I've tried to do is pick a team that is right team for that game.

"That's what I do every single week. Every game matters for England. I believe this is the right team in all the different considerations and all the different factors against a very, very good French team."

Teams:

England: Freddie Steward, Max Malins, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Anthony Watson, Marcus Smith, Jack van Poortvliet; Ellis Genge (captain), Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum, Lewis Ludlam, Jack Willis, Alex Dombrandt.

Replacements: Jack Walker, Mako Vunipola, Dan Cole, David Ribbans, Ben Curry, Alex Mitchell, Owen Farrell, Henry Arundell.

France: Thomas Ramos, Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Jonathan Danty, Ethan Dumortier, Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (captain); Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Dorian Aldegheri, Thibaud Flament, Paul Willemse, Francois Cros, Charles Ollivon, Gregory Alldritt.

Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Reda Wardi, Sipili Falatea, Romain Taofifenua, Sekou Macalou, Maxime Lucu, Yoram Moefana, Melvyn Jaminet.

England coach Steve Borthwick believes Marcus Smith will benefit from playing on his return to Harlequins after the fly-half was left out of his 26-man training squad.

Smith was omitted from Borthwick's selection ahead of England's Six Nations meeting with holders France next week.

While the 24-year-old has not been counted out of contention for that match at Twickenham on March 11, it does cast doubt on his position in the matchday squad.

However, Borthwick – who recalled George Ford – is confident game time with his club will do Smith good.

"The decision was that Marcus would benefit from game time at his club and having that match sharpness," Borthwick said.

"I'm not picking a squad for France. We're not in Test week, we're in a training camp week.

"George played for his club at the weekend, and this is an opportunity for Marcus to go and play.

"Marcus had very limited game time against Wales because of the nature of the game, so I thought this was a step forward for him.

"On a weekly basis, you're making a decision on what is the right thing for the player this week to be then ready to play for England.

"For all our players, I'm making those decisions. For some, it's to go and get game time, for others it's to be in the training camp here."

Ford has only just recovered from injury but Borthwick, who worked alongside him at Leicester Tigers, has not hesitated in getting the Sale Sharks fly-half into the fold.

"We are blessed with some fantastic fly-halves in this country," Borthwick said. "They all have different skillsets and different qualities, so that means it is a great position of strength for England.

"George is looking tremendously sharp and in great condition, and is clearly a very experienced player.

"That adds to the strength we have in that position. I am looking forward to seeing Marcus play this weekend, and when you add in Owen [Farrell] and Fin Smith – who I have been hugely impressed by – it shows [it's] a position where we are blessed to have a number of top-quality players."

Max Malins has been left out of the squad while he nurses an ankle issue, with Jonny May called up in his place.

England boss Steve Borthwick has told his players they must "accelerate" their progress after a 20-10 victory over Wales in Cardiff.

In Borthwick's third game as head coach, his team followed up victory over Italy last time out by getting the better of a Wales side who endured a disrupted build-up to their week three Six Nations challenge.

A contract dispute with the Welsh Rugby Union meant there was doubt until midweek that Saturday's game would even go ahead, amid talk of possible strike action.

Borthwick was hugely impressed by how Wales contributed so much, but it was his England who triumphed thanks to tries from Anthony Watson, Kyle Sinckler and Ollie Lawrence.

Captain Owen Farrell struggled with his kicking again, but England did enough.

They have won eight of their last 10 meetings with Wales in the Six Nations, but this result ended a run of two consecutive losses on the road against the Welsh.

England's last six victories over Wales had come by margins of six points or fewer, so by those standards this was a relative drubbing. In reality, it was nip and tuck until the final minutes.

Borthwick told BBC One he was "really proud of the team and what they did".

"That was a tough Test match. There wasn't much in it really," he said. "I think you've got to give those Welsh players such enormous credit and incredible respect.

"We've got quite a number of young men in there. There were a number of guys who played well. Now we've got to push on. There were bits in that performance that we can really push on with in this rebuilding.

"We need to accelerate. We've got two big games to finish the championship. For now, we've got to make sure we enjoy that win."

England have France at home on March 11, followed by Ireland away seven days later, taking on the teams ranked second and first in the world rankings.

It will be a lot clearer after those games where England stand, as they continue to build towards the Rugby World Cup under their new coach, who replaced the sacked Eddie Jones in December.

Farrell described England's showing as "a step forward", accepting his repeatedly wayward kicking was to blame for the visitors not pulling away.

"But it was a good test for us," he added. "We stuck in there, and we fought to the end and took control of the last 20 minutes I thought.

"There's bits starting to show, but we're laying some foundations at the minute and we want to keep building on it all."

Lawrence's try in the 75th minute put the game out of Wales' reach, with it having been on a knife edge to that point.

It meant England scored three tries away to Wales in Cardiff for just the second time in 12 Six Nations matches and for the first time since 2001.

Wales coach Warren Gatland saw good reason to be positive about his team's performance, even though they suffered a third successive loss in the championship.

Gatland said: "I can't be critical of the effort. We spoke in the changing room about being tough on ourselves, about some of the errors we made, things we can fix up and be better at.

"If we look at the mistakes we made that shifted the momentum back to England, they were at pretty critical moments.

"The message at half-time was to just stay in this arm wrestle and we'll get opportunities. The unfortunate thing is we turned the ball back over on too many occasions, dropped a couple of high balls and that was pretty frustrating, and a couple of penalties as well.

"Still for us there's work to do, but I thought there was improvement in some areas."

Former Australia assistant coach Dan McKellar has departed the Wallabies to take charge of Leicester Tigers from next season.

The former Brumbies boss will become the permanent successor to England coach Steve Borthwick at the Premiership Rugby club.

McKellar exits the backroom staff of new Australia boss Eddie Jones, who returned to the top job at the Wallabies following his own exit at Twickenham.

The 46-year-old's arrival at Welford Road signals the end of a coaching reshuffle between the club and the two nations, just months ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

"We are delighted to be able to confirm Dan McKellar's appointment to the head coach role at Leicester Tigers from next season," club chief executive officer Andrea Pinchen said.

"This has been a rigorous process, over a period of almost six months, and always been about ensuring that we found the very best coach to lead this club into the future.

"His style of coaching, his interactions and passion for wanting to improve players, his interest in developing Tigers-made players and our connection with our community has shown he understands the uniqueness of this club.

"Dan is committed to long-term success at Leicester Tigers, and we are looking forward to welcoming him and his family in the summer, before getting to work together."

McKellar will not take charge until the end of the 2022-23 campaign at Leicester, with the Tigers set to continue under interim boss Richard Wigglesworth.

The former scrum-half is then set to link up with former coach Borthwick and fellow assistant Kevin Sinfield as part of the national set-up ahead of the World Cup.

After losing their opening Six Nations game to Scotland, England bounced back to give their new boss a maiden victory against Italy earlier this month.

They next play Wales on Saturday, before games with holders France and championship favourites Ireland in March.

England boss Steve Borthwick believes his team took "a couple of steps forward" with their hard-fought win over Italy at Twickenham on Sunday.

After losing at home to Scotland in the first round of the Six Nations, England began to make amends by grinding out a 31-14 victory over the Azzurri.

It means England preserved their 100 per cent record against Italy in the championship, with this a 24th successive win in the one-sided rivalry, and it allowed England to reflect on a positive week on the training pitch.

Borthwick, who celebrated on the pitch with his young son Chase after the game, is still getting to grips with his new task, having been appointed in December to replace Eddie Jones. The players are also still learning what the former Leicester Tigers head coach wants from them.

"I think we took some steps forward and that's an important thing to recognise," Borthwick said.

"But there's plenty of areas to improve upon. I think we left some chances out there we should have taken. Our ball speed could have been a bit quicker, and we conceded a couple [of tries] that we wouldn't want to do.

"So there's always things to work upon, but ultimately it was a couple of steps forward."

Borthwick said England's ruck speed could have been quicker but spoke positively in general, as England move on to preparations for a trip to face bottom side Wales on February 25.

England had tries from Jack Willis, Ollie Chessum, Jamie George and Henry Arundell, plus a penalty try.

Rugby World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward, now working in the media, said the performance against Italy was "really workmanlike" in the first half, contending the team lost their shape after going to the interval with a 19-0 lead.

Lawrence Dallaglio, the former England captain who is also now a pundit, told ITV the performance was "miles off" what was seen on Saturday, when Ireland beat France in Dublin.

Dallaglio spoke of it being "a messy game", but he agreed there were "small steps forward" to offer cheer for England.

The current captain, Owen Farrell, took the same view, saying: "In terms of the performance, it felt better. I thought it was a step forward, as it would be a week on into our new journey.

"There's a lot to get better at, and we feel like there's loads more to go, but it's a step in the right direction.

"We're trying to look after each other, trying to build a togetherness on the pitch, fighting for each other for 80 minutes, and I think you've seen that for the past two games, and we were hopefully more on top of that this week."

Player of the match Ollie Lawrence spoke of both small steps and greater gains.

"We took a massive stride forward after last week," Lawrence said. "We're rebuilding as a team, and we're taking those small steps each week.

"The progression's getting there. We're nowhere near the finished product yet, but we're all believing in where we're going as a team. It just needs to get better and better, and we're pushing together."

England secured their first win of the Steve Borthwick era as Italy succumbed 31-14 to a performance of potent power at Twickenham.

After losing at home to Scotland in round one of the Six Nations, Borthwick's first game as head coach since replacing Eddie Jones, this time the men in white got it right.

It rarely set the pulses racing, but England produced an efficient display, giving themselves a foothold in the championship.

Flanker Jack Willis made a swift impact in his first Six Nations game for two years, scurrying through to score from a rolling maul in the 13th minute, with captain Owen Farrell adding the extras.

Italy lost narrowly at home against France last week, and victory over Australia in November showed they are an improving team.

England's superior strength served the hosts well though, and another opportunity arrived when Lorenzo Cannone was sin-binned. Two yards short of the Italy line, lock Ollie Chessum was fed a short pass by Ellis Genge and dived over for his first international try. Farrell slotted a simple conversion.

Scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet had a try disallowed in the 35th minute after a trip by Ollie Lawrence in the build-up. Yet England did not have to wait long before scoring again, another rolling maul allowing hooker Jamie George to drive over.

Italy, subdued before the break, began the second half more purposefully and Marco Riccioni reached out to dot down and get the Azzurri moving.

A touch of nastiness from Sebastian Negri, pressing his hand across the face of Farrell, showed Italy were ready to make the rest of the game uncomfortable for England.

Yet Italy replacement Simone Ferrari collapsed another threatening England rolling maul and conceded a penalty try, ostensibly ending prospects of a full-scale comeback from the visitors.

Alessandro Fusco danced through a static defence to cut the deficit to 26-14, but Alex Mitchell then fed Henry Arundell to score his first Six Nations try in the left corner and England were home and hosed.

Eddie Jones accepts Steve Borthwick's criticism of his England team, but warned his successor there is "more pain to go" before they turn around their form.

The Australian's former assistant took charge of the national team for the first time in their Six Nations opener, suffering a 29-23 defeat against Scotland at Twickenham.

Afterwards, Borthwick offered an incisive repudiation of his predecessor's tenure, suggesting England "weren't good at anything" under him.

Jones, who is now in charge of Australia, acknowledged the former Leicester man's comments as a fair assessment, and pinned his side's struggles on their transitional phase.

"He is probably right," he said on his self-titled podcast EDDIE. "That was part of the problem.

"We were trying to morph a team that had been a very good set-piece [side] and a very good kicking team.

"The way the game is played at the moment, that will win you games, but it is probably not good enough to be a World Cup champion.

"Expanding the attack sometimes takes away from your strength. They are going through that difficult period now where they are trying to get the balance right in the game.

"There is no doubt Steve will fix it. Keep blaming me, that is alright. I have got a pretty strong back and pretty strong shoulders to absorb that."

Jones further warned there would be tougher times ahead for his former assistant, however, highlighting the natural flaws brought by inexperienced faces to the team. 

"When you are young players, inconsistency is unfortunately a part of your apprenticeship at Test level," he added.

"You get lapses of concentration. As they build their Tests up and build their maturity, they will be really good players.

"There is probably still a bit more pain to go for England, which is hard for the supporters and hard for the coaches, but I am sure they will get through it."

Steve Borthwick claims the England team he inherited from Eddie Jones "weren’t good at anything" but says he has seen progress despite defeat to Scotland.

The former Leicester Tigers boss saw his side lose the first game of his tenure in their Six Nations opener, as they were beaten 29-23 at Twickenham.

In a World Cup year, it marked another damning result for England's prospects, with their dismal run during 2022 contributing to the exit of long-term boss Jones.

But now Borthwick, who worked as the Australian's assistant before leaving for Leicester, has given a withering appraisal of the squad left behind by him amid the Scotland post-mortem.

"I've been frank from day one in saying there's a lot of work to do," he told the Guardian. "When I looked at the team in the autumn, when I measured the team and got all the data for the team, we weren't good at anything.

"It was as frank as that. My job is to make sure we get some improvements next week. I have asked the players to play a new way.

"One thing I have got to do here is get the players to believe in themselves, and get the players to bring their strengths to the pitch.

"[I have to] get them to play to the best of themselves, which I don't think we have seen them do for a while. I think you saw an improvement in that regard."

England held a 20-12 lead at one point in London, before a collapse allowed Scotland to sweep to a historic victory against their rivals.

Having brought respected assistant Kevin Sinfield from Leicester to oversee defence, the soft nature of his side's concessions is a sticking point for Borthwick.

With that in mind, however, he felt the team showed spirit to their concessions, adding: "I'd seen a habit with the team of conceding points early and not being able to respond to it.

"We conceded points [against Scotland] and the biggest thing I was looking at was the response. I thought the response was magnificent."

Steve Borthwick warned England must be prepared "go through some pain" after they were beaten by Scotland in his first game in charge at Twickenham on Saturday.

There was no dream start for Borthwick after he replaced the sacked Eddie Jones as Red Rose head coach in December, as Scotland retained the Calcutta Cup with a 29-23 win.

Duhan van der Merwe starred in an entertaining Six Nations clash, scoring a brilliant solo try in the first half and adding a second five minutes from time to give Gregor Townsend's side a bonus-point victory. 

That is three consecutive wins for Scotland over England, who led by eight points early in the second half but were unable to see it out.

Borthwick said: "This is part of the growth of the team.

"We got ourselves in a position when we should have won the Test match in the second half. At 20-12 up, we shouldn't be letting that game get away from us. You have to go through some pain.

"Really good teams would go on and win that.

"We were playing against a Scotland team who have controlled this fixture in recent years. We need to make sure we limit chances and can shut them down."

Borthwick says it is not all doom and gloom after a losing start to his reign.

He added: "We saw some growth, particularly in the attacking side of the game. The game was quicker, but clearly we're disappointed in the result.

"The team in the autumn, if they conceded a couple of scores early didn't come back from that. These guys did.

"Unfortunately we let the opposition back in. We want to be a really successful team that wins Test matches. When you get to that level, you don't give the opposition the opportunities we did.

"I am disappointed for the supporters, who I thought were incredible for us today. We'll make sure we come back here in eight days' time and are a better team."

Duhan van der Merwe acknowledged even he was surprised by his magical first try after playing the starring role in Scotland's history-making Six Nations win over England.

The flying wing bolted in for two five-pointers in a 29-23 victory, giving Scotland back-to-back victories against England at Twickenham for the first time.

There was a touch of Jonah Lomu's greatness about both tries from Van der Merwe, as he ran from his own half for a remarkable first score before his power saw him shake off England bodies to snatch the late match-winning effort.

England came from behind to lead 13-12 at the interval, and then stretched that to 20-12 thanks to Max Malins' second try, but the Scots were not finished and Ben White brought them back into the game before Van der Merwe produced his second instalment of bulldozing heroics.

Van der Merwe told ITV: "We came here wanting to start the campaign off on a high. After the first half, we knew we had more in us and came out for the second half with a bang and managed to get the win over England so we're obviously buzzing.

"They scored quite early, and we said we just had to stay in the fight. We managed to get some points on the board and got some confidence from that."

Looking at his first slice of brilliance, destined to be remembered for many a year, Van der Merwe said: "As a winger you don't get a lot of opportunities, so I needed to take that opportunity.

"After I scored my first try, I was also quite surprised, so I will take that one any time of the day."

When it was put to him that he was rampaging through white shirts, showing no mercy, Van der Merwe said: "At the end of the day, I always say that's my job."

The South Africa-born player said Scotland must now build on their success, adding: "We spoke about getting our first win of the Six Nations and now we need to take some confidence from that and hopefully get our second win next week."

Coach Gregor Townsend echoed that sentiment, calling for a strong performance against Wales at Murrayfield next time out.

Townsend labelled Scotland's success "a brilliant win", with his team having now beaten England on the opening weekend of the championship for three successive years.

He feels there is still better to come, though, saying: "Our ceiling is a lot higher than that.

"We didn't get to play until well into the second half, and a lot of that was down to England's tactics and how they dominated possession, but most of it was down to us as well.

"We'll be better for today, and we've got to make sure that next week we put in a better performance, because the last two or three Six Nations we've not done that in round two."

England captain Owen Farrell said there were grounds for encouragement from what was Steve Borthwick's first game as head coach, after taking the reins from the sacked Eddie Jones in December.

Farrell said: "I think we started 11 days ago and there's been massive improvement over the 11 days, and trying to get that out on the field today, I thought we did that in large parts.

"There's some stuff we need to look at, and we need to get better at, but we'll have a look at that tomorrow and the day after. We'll make sure we get better from here.

"We stuck in the fight very well; even though Scotland played to the end and scored the try at the end, it never felt like we went away. We'll have a good look at it and make sure we build on it."