While they rode their luck at times as France botched numerous try-scoring chances with uncharacteristic handling errors galore in the wet conditions, it nevertheless felt like a seismic moment for this England side and Borthwick, who will be hoping that it doesn’t prove merely a false dawn as Scotland now head down south of the border looking for a fifth consecutive victory over the auld enemy and third in a row at Twickenham.
Scotland will hope that fly-half star Finn Russell and wing Darcy Graham can be involved against England after a nasty clash of heads suffered in the first half against Ireland that saw both men taken off, the latter on a stretcher while Russell was kept on the sidelines despite passing a head injury assessment (HIA).
As euphoric as England’s shock last-gasp victory over France was, it will mean preciously little in the grand scheme of things if it’s immediately followed up by a fifth consecutive Calcutta Cup loss and third in a row against Scotland on home soil.
The pressure was mounting on Steve Borthwick ahead of the visit of pre-tournament favourites France to Twickenham after a second-half collapse away to back-to-back defending champions Ireland in round one, with his side having lost six of their last seven Tests and unable to produce a win against a fellow Tier One nation.
Borthwick named a 36-man wider England squad on Sunday to assemble at their Pennyhill Park training base and prepare for Scotland following the Six Nations’ first fallow week.
