England Rugby: Can Steve Borthwick Deliver Silverware?

As 2024’s fantastic summer of sport comes to a close, winter is just on the horizon. With excellent events and hospitality on show throughout the colder months and into 2025, here at Engage we take a look at England’s Rugby Team and how they might fare as the new rugby season comes back around.

The 2023/24 National Rugby Union season saw some scintillating action, brilliant performances and incredible atmospheres as rugby fans were treated to both the Rugby World Cup 2023 and the Guinness Six Nations 2024. With a third place finish in both the Rugby World Cup and the Guinness Six Nations, it was a relatively successful campaign for the Three Lions.

We take a look back on last year’s campaign, how England got on, key players and how they might play this season in the Autumn Nations Series 2024 and the Guinness Six Nations 2025. Want to see if England can bring home some silverware yourself? Watch both competitions live from the best seats in the house with Engage Hospitality.

Rugby World Cup 2023

In the tenth Rugby World Cup, France played host to seven weeks of scintillating rugby as South Africa retained their title from 2019 defeating New Zealand in the final. It was the Springboks’ fourth World Cup title as they edged out the All Blacks, 12 points to 11 in a thrilling contest under the Saint-Denis floodlights.

England’s 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign did raise a few eyebrows and was relatively successful by many England supporters’ accounts. England went in as 6th favourites to lift the trophy and they were only eliminated by the eventual champions in the semi-final losing by one point in another thrilling encounter.

England began their World Cup campaign with victory over Australia in Pool D. They followed this up with victory over Japan before an emphatic win over Chile, 71-0. Capping off a perfect start to the tournament they beat Samoa narrowly to advance to the quarter final where they were victorious over Fiji.

Many expected a drubbing when England were matched up against South Africa in the semi-final, however, it was agony in the end for the Three Lions, losing by one point, with South Africa dampening hopes of a final against the All Blacks.

However, after defeat to the Springboks, England bounced back in Saint-Denis to beat Argentina 26-23 in the bronze medal match to make the tournament worthwhile.

Although it wasn’t the medal they would have wanted, England could look back on a tournament where they had surpassed predictions and proved a lot of the experts wrong.

There were also some standout individual performances in the England camp as Owen Farrell boasted the highest points scored of the entire tournament with an incredible 75, while George Ford was a bit further down the list on 41 in 9th. Meanwhile Henry Arundell scored the 4th most tries in the tournament as he racked up 5 with Ben Earl ranking second in tackles made on 80.

With some brilliant talent on show, England will be hopeful that they can maintain this form as they approach both the Autumn Nations Series 2024 and the Guinness Six Nations 2025.

Guinness Six Nations 2024

Next up on the calendar for England was the 2024 Guinness Six Nations. The Six Nations is an annual competition taking place between six different national rugby union sides: Italy, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and England. It is a historic series that began in 1883 as teams from the Home Nations take on one another in a battle to top the table. Its long history makes it one of the most renowned competitions in the sporting world. So how did England get on?

Head coach, Steve Borthwick was keen to carry on his team’s impressive performance from the Autumn with aspirations of challenging for the Six Nations title. England began their Six Nations campaign with victories over both Italy and Wales, however, they fell short to Scotland at Murrayfield in a shock defeat to their bitter rivals.

England were forced to regroup, and regroup they did. Next up, England hosted, favourites for the title, Ireland at Twickenham with many predicting it to only go one way. However, an upset saw England pull off a narrow victory in front of a home crowd with a last minute Marcus Smith drop-goal to decide the match.

With their tails up, England failed to capitalise in Lyon as they were defeated by a strong France side 33-31, while Ireland beat Scotland to lift their 6th Six Nations trophy.

A third placed finish for England matched the predictions of the experts prior to play. With that said, after victory over Ireland, defeat to Scotland and a narrow defeat to France, they will look back on a tournament of what could have been. Borthwick and his team will be gunning to make amends in 2025.

England Rugby in 2024 and 2025

So how will England take on the challenges of two series once again this season? They will begin with the Autumn Nations Series, a month of international games against some of the best teams in the world taking on New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Japan at Twickenham. Starting on November 2nd, each weekend throughout November, the Three Lions will host one of the four sides as the World Finalists make their first appearance on English ground since their World Cup triumph.

Want to see England challenge the very best this Autumn? Check out Engage’s brilliant hospitality for each international game this Autumn in their famous ICON hospitality.

Can’t make the Autumn fixtures? Don’t worry, Engage are also offering some hospitality for the oldest rugby tournament in the world, the 2025 Guinness Six Nations. Be part of history and watch as Steve Borthwick aims to steer England to their eighth Six Nations victory and surpass their own record.

From Engage’s ICON facilities you can watch all the action while enjoying world-renowned guest speakers, a fabulous dining experience and a brilliant atmosphere at Twickenham, the home of English Rugby. England play France, Scotland and Italy at Twickenham in 2025, make sure you’re there to see this talented side!

All Posts

Share this

• 
• 
•