Dallaglio: Consistency and mindset needs to change for England to return to top

Lawrence Dallaglio has told Sky Sports England's consistency of performance and mindset within Tests needs to change if they are to return to the top of world rugby's tree. 

Steve Borthwick's side entered the 2025 Six Nations off the back of fourth and third-place finishes in the 2023 and 2024 championships respectively.

A fortnight ago in the opening round against Ireland, England put in an impressive first-half display in Dublin to lead by five points but were then destroyed in a second half which saw them slip 27-10 behind until four minutes to play, with two late tries rescuing a losing bonus point.

One week on, Borthwick's charges managed to down a high-flying France at Twickenham, winning 26-25 with a final-minute Elliot Daly try. Such swings in performances remain too extreme, says 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Dallaglio.

"The assessment is that England do a lot of things very well. There's no shortage of commitment, courage, heart and determination," he said. "But emotionally, you've got to be at the right level to win games. To play not just for the opening 10 minutes or the opening 10 minutes of the second half, you've got to do it for 80 minutes.

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"International rugby is being able to replicate a level of mental emotion and accuracy. That's really the key. Being able to do the simple things over and over again under intense pressure.

"Unfortunately, for whatever reason, England's ability to do the simple things and execute under pressure has let them down, whether that's in attack or defence.

"That starts to create doubt in the minds of players, coaches, fans. England should have had a better return since that Ireland game [victory at Twickenham in 2024]."

In last year's championship, England squeaked to opening wins away to Italy and at home to Wales but then lost to Scotland for the fourth year in succession in Round 3.

Ireland travelled to Twickenham in Round 4 looking to remain on course to become the first side to secure consecutive Six Nations Grand Slam titles and were huge favourites. Yet England turned them over in a magnificent performance which should have seen them victorious long before Marcus Smith's last-gasp drop-goal.

Despite the quality of that display nearly 12 months ago, England went on to lose their next seven Tests against Tier 1 opposition: France in Lyon, New Zealand three times (two away, one at home), Australia and South Africa at Twickenham, and Ireland in Dublin.

"That Ireland performance was probably the peak of Steve Borthwick's coaching career so far and it's taken a year to find it again [vs France at Twickenham in Six Nations 2025 Round 2]. That's the reality," Dallaglio says.

"As a coach and a group of players, there can't be 12 months between peak performances. You're not going to win every game necessarily but you have to hit a level. England have been close but there's no medals given out for being close.

"You can't tell me a group of players a year ago can concede 30 points to Scotland and then the following week, exactly the same group of players can beat Ireland, cause them serious problems and stop them from winning a Grand Slam.

"It's more around what's going on in the mind, really. England have not been able to maintain their level of intensity across Test matches.

"England have beaten Ireland but then they've lost to Ireland. They lost to France last year but now they've beaten France. They have what it takes to be at the very top but at the moment, they're not.

"There's three tiers in the Six Nations: Ireland and France, then England and Scotland, and then there's Italy and Wales, I'm sad to say. And there's a bit of a gap between each tier.

"England have shown they can bridge that gap but they can only do it once or twice a year. The challenge for this group is to make performances against the likes of Ireland and France the foundations on which they build.

"If they come anywhere near that level of consistency in terms of performance then there is the potential to put together some significant wins and turn those nearlies into big wins."