Former England skipper Lawrence Dallaglio has warned Steve Borthwick about one crucial area of their game that needs improving and called on the RFU to break the bank to recruit additional help.

The English enter November having won their last two matches, defeating Fiji and Argentina to draw a line under a five-match losing streak that had people fearing Borthwick would lose his job as head coach.

Remarkably, despite nadirs such as losing to Italy for the first time in the Six Nations, enduring a fifth-place finish and then getting battered away to South Africa in July, the RFU’s reaction was instead to hand Borthwick a contract extension through to the end of the 2027/28 season rather than have his contract expire at the end of Rugby World Cup 2027.

Faced with an Allianz Stadium, Twickenham itinerary that contains matches this month against Australia next Sunday, Japan on November 14, New Zealand on November 21 and then a Nations Championship finals weekend play-off, Dallaglio claimed he believes the team can begin moving in the right direction 11 months out from the start of the World Cup in Australia.

“A penalty is so often not worth just three points but seven…”

However, he has singled out discipline as an area that must improve if England are to deliver on the potential he sees. In their eight matches in 2026, Borthwick’s team have conceded 98 penalties – on average 12.25 per game – and suffered 14 yellow cards and one red.

Fourteen of those penalties came at home when they were hammered 21-42 by Ireland last February. Then in their last outing, the 31-24 win in Argentina in July, they conceded 15 penalties and gave up four yellow cards to leave them clinging on to the victory.

Dallaglio now wants to see a noticeable difference, starting against the Wallabies next weekend. “One area they can help to improve, and that will be crucial, is discipline and the penalty count,” he wrote in his latest Sunday Times column.

“You can’t win a game of rugby if you’re giving away as many penalties and yellow cards as England have over the past 12 months. There are what I call pressure penalties, where the team is overwhelmingly winning the gainline battle and it’s almost inevitable you’re going to give penalties away as a result of the pressure.

“And then there are what I call execution penalties, where players are not taking the right options at the right time. England have been on the wrong side of both of those types. Having been one of those players in my own playing career that wasn’t averse to giving away the odd penalty or two, I do understand the need to find a balance.

“But as you get more experienced in the world of international rugby and winning Test matches, you understand how to keep the indiscipline across the team down and how to keep the penalties down to a sensible number that’s going to allow you to win the Test match.

“Particularly at a time when we are seeing so many tries scored from driving mauls, discipline is going to be more important than ever. A penalty is so often not worth just three points but seven.”

With Rassie Erasmus having brought in ex-Test referee Jaco Peyper to work with the Springboks as their laws advisor and Wales recently appointing Ben Whitehouse to do likewise with Steve Tandy’s team, Dallaglio called on the RFU to break the bank with a specific recruitment to rectify England’s poor discipline.

“All teams get referees into the camp to talk to them about what they can and can’t get away with and how games are going to be refereed. England really ought to break the bank to get in Wayne Barnes, who was for a long time the best referee in the world,” he suggested.

“The international game is refereed differently to the club game, but that has been an issue for a long time, including when I was playing. The best players are able to adapt to the game in front of them – that’s what marks them out.”

Looking at the talent at Borthwick’s disposal, Dallaglio reckoned the Nations Championship squad was his strongest since taking on the job for the 2023 Six Nations.

“I would argue this England squad, with the possible exception of the Willis brothers who are ineligible because they are playing in France, is the strongest that Steve Borthwick has been able to pick from since he became England coach,” he claimed.

“We’ve got fewer injury problems than some of our rivals, even if the Northampton Saints pair of Fin Smith and Alex Mitchell aren’t fit enough for the Australia Test next Sunday. He’s got some key players back after absences: Fin Baxter in the front row, George Martin in the second row, George Furbank at full back and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who should be fit, can all be crucial.

“I really think there are reasons for optimism, even though England are coming into these November Tests in poor form – just two wins in their past seven Test matches. Despite that, if you asked Borthwick he’d say he wants, and probably expects, to win all four games this autumn.

“Too many times over the years we’ve gone into a campaign thinking we can win a clean sweep and then being disappointed. So I’m optimistic, but cautiously optimistic. I do have a belief this team will start moving in the right direction.

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“Too often England overpromise and underdeliver and this is the time to reverse that… we just need them to go out a game at a time and prove they are improving after a difficult year.

“I’ve been frustrated, angered, irritated by some of the performances we saw over the past year. But we’re less than a year out from a World Cup.

“We’ve got a squad, we’ve got a coach and – whether you agree or not – those are the people who are going to take us through the autumn, the Six Nations and into the World Cup. Now is the time for everyone to unite behind this England squad and coaches.”