During the opening weekend of the 2025 Six Nations we asked Telegraph Readers what questions they would like answered by James Haskell and Mike Tindall.
Mike Tindall answered the best of the questions on Monday lunchtime. Topics included whether Steve Borthwick is on thin ice, what to do about forward passes and whether England kick the ball from hand too frequently.
Telegraph Sport has teamed up with rugby podcast The Good, The Bad and The Rugby for the duration of this year’s Six Nations. If your question wasn’t answered this week, there will be another chance to quiz Tindall and Haskell this coming weekend.
02:35 PM GMT
Thanks for joining
We’ll be collecting more questions for James Haskell and Mike Tindall this weekend. Come back on Monday lunchtime next week for another Q&A
02:33 PM GMT
‘England need to work on their offloads’
If you are going to play that high-tempo fast style, you have got to keep the ball off the floor more. They need to look at their offloading ability. When you are playing at high tempo, you have to make sure your offloading is on point. Go back to the weekend, Ireland got nine offloads away, which contributed to some of their tries, and we only got three. That’s the crux of it. It changes the point of attack.
Steve likes control, but maybe we need to push those offloads. You can’t just go for 100 per centers, particularly when players are on the deck. The players definitely have the skillset to do it.
02:30 PM GMT
Fran Barrett asks...
Do you have any notion of Borthwick’s attacking strategy? He seems to be developing a fast paced dynamic style of play whilst discouraging players from keeping the ball in hand. I lost count of the number of times England players went to ground with resulting slow ball being punted down field to gain ‘field position’.
02:29 PM GMT
‘Borthwick needs to turn close defeats into wins’
Personally, I can take a good performance and a loss against a better team. We are getting close to the end of that period. But if you look at the top seven nations in the world, they are so ridiculously close. We just need to get over the line. The purist in me thinks I am enjoying what I am watching. Obviously it is frustrating that we are not winning, but it is better than what we were watching from 2020-2023. I still think have a bit more patience, but you have got to start converting some of those close defeats into wins.
02:27 PM GMT
Neil Marshall asks
I know this is not football and head coaches tend to get longer, but in reality how much longer can Borthwick survive by serving up this mediocrity?
02:26 PM GMT
Time for two more questions
Here’s a good ‘un...
02:26 PM GMT
‘Slade and Lawrence were impressive’
I thought that was one of the better performances by Slade and Lawrence together. Lawrence was getting his hands on the ball more, particularly in the first half, but maybe the change in personnel interrupted his rhythm. I think he beat six defenders, made one line-break and put in a good defensive shift.
02:24 PM GMT
Dave Lucas asks
Mike, who would be your centre pairing for France and which centre do you like the look of in the wider squad or Premiership that’s not quite made the 23 yet?
02:23 PM GMT
‘England are playing well and losing’
I think they have improved exponentially since the 2023 World Cup or the last couple of years of Eddie Jones. They are still struggling with some of the execution but at least all the games I have watched with England in the past 12 months have been entertaining to watch. Before under Eddie, I would often feel disappointed with a win because of how they played but at the moment they are playing well and losing.
I genuinely felt Ireland were there for the taking and thought we could go on to win the title. Now it gets very tough with a very good French team coming to town. They are going to have to play very, very well to win.
02:21 PM GMT
Peter Hatton asks
Are England improving under Borthwick?
02:20 PM GMT
‘Irish rugby doesn’t have to compete with football’
I would say the strong school system which feeds into a stronger club game and they manage their players unbelievably well through central contracts. The senior players are properly looked after and they can give their younger players game time in the URC. They have built a system that works for them and by having the success of winning Grand Slams and Championships that breeds the hunger of the next generation to want to play for Ireland.
The other thing to say about Ireland is that they don’t have the competition of football. With hurling and Gaelic football being amateur, rugby is one of the main pathways for players who want to play professionally and represent Ireland in World Cups. The lack of competition from other sports is a big factor.
02:17 PM GMT
Peter Mackir asks
What is the main reason for Ireland, population similar to that of Yorkshire, being one of the best performing rugby countries?
02:15 PM GMT
‘I don’t necessarily agree that England kick too much’
Look at the kicks at the weekend, we kicked it 38 times, Ireland kicked it 31 times and arguably England didn’t manage territory well enough with their kicking. You just need to be careful what you wish for. Aimless kicking, I agree with you, but then you have the Slade grubber that creates Murley’s first try and Marcus Smith’s crossfield kicks, they are creative, attacking weapons.
I don’t necessarily agree that England kick too much, it is whether it becomes aimless because there is no other idea. There has to be the space there and a reason for it. Crossfield kicks are a really important weapon when defences are really aggressive.
02:11 PM GMT
Adrian Wright asks
Do you think England’s 9 and 10 kick too much. We now have great runners in the pack and in the backs. Would it not make sense to keep possession when in opposition half?
02:10 PM GMT
‘Forward pass law is a Pandora’s box’
We have opened Pandora’s box here by creating the ‘out of the hands backwards, momentum’ law change. Unfortunately this means you are going to create situations where it just does not pass the eye test but is technically legal because the nose of the ball is pointing backwards. On Friday night, Antoine Dupont produced such a big pass it is always going to be exaggerated and then it is going to drift forwards.
02:07 PM GMT
Adam Rowland asks
Rugby wins fans for its respect for the laws and the referees. But it’s not perfect. When is there going to be a real conversation about forward passes escaping sanction?
02:06 PM GMT
‘Maybe England need to leave their starting XV on for longer’
I don’t think there are that many changes needed. I liked the team from the start and I actually like the composition of the bench. I thought Fin Smith looked handy when he came on. There’s more to see out of Willis. Cunningham-South gave away a silly penalty but he plays on the edge. Theo Dan carried well.
On a whole I didn’t mind the team or the bench. I think they do have a look at the implementation of the bench which is a theme going back to the summer and autumn. Maybe we need to leave our first XV on for longer. But I completely understand why the question is being asked when they are on a run like that.
02:03 PM GMT
Adam Peake asks
What changes should Borthwick make for next week?
02:01 PM GMT
‘I can’t argue with England’s work at the breakdown’
Yes, ultimately you could say the lineout wasn’t that smooth, that was my only quibble. In terms of physicality and what they did at the breakdown, winning several turnovers, I am not sure you could argue much against it. I know the Currys are identical twins but they are different players. If you look at the statistics, Ireland and England were very similar in terms of number of carries and metres made. England just did not convert a couple of opportunities and missed a couple of key one-on-one tackles.
01:56 PM GMT
Matt Sercombe asks...
Do you think there was the right balance in the England back row? Seemed to get on top of Ireland in the first half, then we lost too much pace for the scramble defence when the subs arrived.
01:53 PM GMT
‘Borthwick has had enough time to figure out what he needs to do’
I think you have to draw a line in the sand with Eddie. After the 2023 World Cup, you have to say the Eddie era was over. Borthers has had enough time to change his players and figure out what he needs to do.
01:51 PM GMT
David Maitland asks...
Do you think Borthwick and the team are still suffering from a long Eddie Jones hangover?
01:50 PM GMT
‘Penalty count was England’s big no-no against Ireland’
I think the integration of the bench would be an interesting one in terms of how the replacements come on and how quickly they get up to speed. In the second half, England’s penalty count rose and that is one the biggest of biggest no-nos against Ireland. Ireland want entries into your half and entries into your 22 and that’s what England gave them after half time.
I don’t think it is fitness, more how they manage their energy. I was so impressed by their physicality in that first half but they could not maintain that dominance. The timings of the replacements I found interesting. Ben Earl was very good again and I know you want to give people off the bench some minutes, but do you need to bring Tom Willis on that early? They made five substitutions just after Ireland had started winning the momentum battle. Is changing a third of the team the right thing to do there?
01:47 PM GMT
James Marsh asks...
Why are England repeatedly fading in the second half? Is it poor use of the bench, fitness levels or lack of a Plan B?
01:44 PM GMT
‘No more drop outs underneath the posts’
There are so many law variations every year I can barely remember what the laws used to be ten years ago. My frustration when I was playing ten years ago was that they changed the law that if you touched anyone in the air you got yellow carded. Now they have removed any form blocking so it is all about competition which means people are landing in weird positions.
Right, my choice would be to remove the drop out underneath the posts if you are held up over the line. I just think it is stupid. Too many laws stacked the advantage towards the defence and this is just another loss of red-zone possession. I would have a free kick from the 22 for the attacking team.
01:42 PM GMT
Oliver Plummer asks...
If you could bring back one “old law” from the past 10 years which would it be and why?
01:41 PM GMT
‘People overlook Huw Jones’
I thought Ryan Baird played really well at six. James Lowe did what James Lowe does. Ollie Lawrence was strong. Rory Darge was very, very good. People overlook Huw Jones because of Tuipulotu but he’s a serious player, who appears in the right place at the right time.
In terms of who slipped down, Finn Russell did not have the best of games but he’s still a strong contender. Most of the other 10s are still finding their feet. You can’t put too many Welsh players because I am not sure how high up the pecking order they were to begin with.
01:38 PM GMT
Andrew Martin asks...
Who enhanced their Lions prospects, and who slipped down the pecking order?
01:37 PM GMT
‘Wales are in a very deep hole’
I would not say they masked it but when such a thin depth pool and you are so reliant on older players then it is just a matter of time. They are in a real tough spot. There’s no connection with the league below or grass-roots rugby in Wales. The pathway gets distorted, the results go wrong and suddenly you are in a very deep hole.
01:35 PM GMT
Matthew Hodgson asks...
Do you think the the previous generation of Welsh players masked the underlying problems in the Welsh game?
01:26 PM GMT
We wanted your questions, you responded in droves
During the opening round of matches at the Six Nations, Telegraph readers submitted their questions for Mike Tindall and James Haskell. Mike joins us today to answer the best of them. Stick around for his verdict on the laws that need to be reprised, England’s back-row balance and whether Steve Borthwick is on thin ice.
