Jamie George issues furious response to claim England have lost faith in Steve Borthwick

The England hooker Jamie George has hit back at claims of a divided dressing room and toxic camp in a staunch defence of Steve Borthwick’s management ahead of their clash against Australia.

A report in The Times on Friday claimed that members of the England squad had lost faith in Borthwick during the first phase of the Nations Championship in July, and disagreed with the direction set by the head coach.

That followed the side’s worst-ever Six Nations campaign and first defeat to Italy earlier in the year, though George – who captained in the stead of the rested Maro Itoje in the summer – insisted that much of the reporting was wide of the mark.

“I don’t relate to that in any way, shape, or form,” George said. “I’m incredibly disappointed by the article. I’m incredibly disappointed with the contents of it. I think there’s a lot of it that’s untrue. I’m incredibly disappointed with the timing. I think that holding it back two days out from a Test match is clearly trying to create a divide within the group.

“I am just incredibly upset by it if I am being honest. I don’t like the narrative it has created and the response from the group has been a rallying one because we all feel the same way. There are some people that are really angry about this article because it feels like an attack on Steve.

“It is just unwarranted. We had a meeting this morning and two days out from a Test match we are having to have a meeting about an article that’s been written about our head coach. I think that’s just crazy if I am honest, but we had to do it. We had to address it. The overriding thing that came out of it was that Steve has every bit of our backing and we need to make sure that we keep looking after each other like we have done for a very long time.”

George, Itoje and a group of senior players are understood to have called the whole squad together on Friday morning to address the article, with George Ford also said to have been a prominent voice.

The hooker confirmed that he had been among a group of leaders to have met with Borthwick after the summer Tests – which featured wins over Fiji and Argentina following a defeat to South Africa – to address improving the environment, though suggested this was common practice after each campaign.

Emphatic that the head coach retained the backing of the entire squad, George made clear that they intend to put on a performance for Borthwick against the Wallabies on Sunday.

“It’s galvanising, 100 per cent,” he said. “We are tight already, which that article doesn’t suggest. We are incredibly tight already. But when someone comes at one of our own, we are going to fight to protect them.

“That is genuinely across the board. We have meetings weekly with [assistant coach] Kevin Sinfield, and a lot of time Kev’s messaging comes back to looking after people and standing up for teammates and people we respect. That is what I think will happen now moving forward. My opinion, having read the article, is that given the timing it is trying to be divisive. I don’t see a world where it does that to us.”

England resume their Nations Championship campaign against Australia on Sunday, and also take on Japan, New Zealand and an unconfirmed opponent on the inaugural finals weekend this November.

Responding to the report, Borthwick said: “I’m aware of the article, I’m aware of the contents, I’m aware of some of the things it said. I don’t recognise that as an accurate description of the environment.”