Carlisle-born Steve Borthwick, England’s under-fire coach, has been given the backing of the RFU’s chief executive Bill Sweeney.
But it might be only temporary as there is set to be a full appraisal of what has been a disastrous Six Nations campaign after the final match on Saturday against France.
England had started the tournament with a win over woeful Wales but since then have suffered successive defeats to Scotland, Ireland and most damaging of all to Italy – their first ever loss to the Azzurri.
They had previously been on a 12-match winning run, which makes the recent set of results even more disappointing – and worrying.
Sweeney said: “Steve and his coaching team are working tirelessly to make improvements, and we remain fully committed to supporting them and the players as they face France this weekend and then look ahead to the Nations Championship.
“Part of that support is being open about what hasn’t gone right during this Six Nations and making sure everyone has a clear sense of how we move through those challenges together.
“That’s something we’ll be talking through and working on in the days and weeks ahead.”
Speaking to the media after the defeat to Italy, the 46-year-old Borthwick said: “Right now this is a tough period, but what we will do is learn from it and make sure we are stronger going forward.
“It is tough right now and we are not hiding away from the fact it is tough.”
