Infotainment Factory: The 'miracle' required to revive Eddie's England

After seven years under Eddie Jones, England is facing a race against time to adapt to a new coach and a new style of play before the Rugby World Cup begins in September.

Steve Borthwick will have to work miracles, then, to get the English into a position to win the Six Nations within two months of taking over as Jones' successor.

He'll likely go back to basics to do so when the tournament kicks off on Sunday (AEDT).

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Borthwick, who was captaining England in the Six Nations just 14 years ago, is pretty much everything Jones isn't - understated, empathetic, realistic... oh, and English.

Yet they do share a common trait when it comes to attention to detail, and Borthwick has offered a view on why England had lost its way by the end of Jones' reign, which didn't survive much beyond a 27-13 pumping by South Africa in November.

"The reality is in those games in the autumn series when the pressure really came on, when things went wrong or got challenged, the England team did not have the clarity to move forward," Borthwick said.

Then England coach Eddie Jones (right) and forwards coach Steve Borthwick during the Rugby World Cup 2019 quarter final match between England and Australia in Japan.

Borthwick's objective will be to simplify England's game plan, especially up front where the scrum has to improve and the lineout should also tighten up under a coach who saw those facets as his bread and butter in 57 games for his country.

Borthwick's first squad selection shows he will pick on form - there were five uncapped players in his enlarged 37 man squad - and he will hope the team enjoys playing with more freedom now the shackles of the Jones era are off.

A home loss to old foe Scotland in round one would leave Borthwick in a tough early predicament, however, with a tournament finish of Wales away, France at home and Ireland away not for the faint hearted.

England's Rugby Football Union has appointed Steve Borthwick as its new head coach.

The Six Nations is a big deal in its own right but there's an added dimension to it in a World Cup year.

It's inevitable that the team crowned the best in the northern hemisphere will be burdened with extra expectation in the buildup to the global showpiece, which will start six months later in France.

It's hard to look beyond the Irish and the French - the top two teams in the world ranking and the leading two teams with the bookmakers to win the Six Nations.

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They also have the last two World Rugby players of the year in France scrumhalf Antoine Dupont (2021) and Ireland flanker Josh van der Flier (2022).

France is the defending champion after its Grand Slam success last year, which ended the country's 12 year wait to be kings of Europe.

Les Tricolores are on a 13 game winning run stretching back to 2021, a streak which includes victories over every top country from the southern and northern hemispheres.

The Six Nations captains at the 2023 season launch in London.

It's setting up the prospect of possibly the greatest ever year in French rugby - the national team has never won the World Cup - and confidence couldn't be higher.

"Are we defending a title or going to get a title?" asked France coach Fabien Galthie, who has turned around the team's fortunes since taking charge after 2019.

"That is the question we will ask amongst ourselves and that will give us a collective vision. Because when we took on this team three years ago, we said we wanted to win matches quickly, we wanted to win titles and we wanted to become a force in world rugby again. That was three years ago, and we are still working on the structure we put in place three years ago."

Then again, Ireland might have even better form, having won a first ever series in New Zealand in July followed by victories over South Africa, Fiji and Australia in November.

Andy Farrell's team has lost just two Test matches out of its last 19 - the first Test against the All Blacks last year and 30-24 in France in last year's Six Nations.

Ireland and France are playing three of their five games away from home in this championship.

Crucially, the Irish are at home when they meet in round two and also finish the championship in Dublin when England visits.

"To prove that we can do something in the World Cup, we need to go and do something in the Six Nations as well," Ireland captain Jonathan Sexton said.

Playing Wales away on the opening weekend will reveal plenty about Ireland - and also the host.

Because Warren Gatland is back in charge of the Welsh, making them a dangerous outsider once more.

The Welsh were unlikely champions in 2021 under Wayne Pivac before unravelling, sparking the departure of the New Zealander in December - just 10 months out from the World Cup.

Gatland is a seasoned campaigner and a four time winner of the Six Nations with Wales.

This would be his best if he can engineer a turnaround.

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