England head coach Steve Borthwick sparked a furious row with Australia in 2025 after raising concerns over the Wallabies' alleged illegal breakdown tactics with match officials.

The England boss reportedly identified dozens of questionable clearouts ahead of their meeting at Twickenham, with player safety at the heart of his concerns.

Australia were far from impressed.

Captain Harry Wilson accused England of whinging, while then-head coach Joe Schmidt dismissed the controversy as gamesmanship.

Now, with England and Australia preparing to renew their rivalry at Twickenham on Sunday in the Nations Championship, the controversy has resurfaced.

And if last year's war of words is anything to go by, there could be plenty of fireworks when the two sides meet again.

Borthwick raised concerns over 40 incidents

According to The Telegraph, Borthwick met referee Nika Amashukeli before the November 2025 encounter.

England had reportedly identified around 40 potential illegal entries at the breakdown during Australia's previous matches against the British & Irish Lions, South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina.

Approximately 20 were considered clear-cut infringements.

The concern centred on Australian players entering rucks from the side rather than through the legal entry point.

Such clearouts can put opposition players at risk, particularly those attempting to steal possession.

Under World Rugby's laws, arriving players must join a ruck from behind their offside line.

England believed Australia had repeatedly pushed those boundaries without being punished.

Australia captain accuses England of whinging

Wallabies captain Harry Wilson was having none of it.

The back-row forward rejected suggestions that Australia deliberately used illegal or dangerous tactics.

Speaking before the match, Wilson said:

"Firstly, I'd like to question how many of them are illegal."

He also defended Schmidt, insisting the Australian coach would never deliberately encourage his players to break the laws.

Wilson pointed out that Australia had contested more than 2,000 rucks that year, suggesting England had selected a handful of incidents to make their case.

The captain also accused England of whinging about the breakdown.

It was hardly the friendliest build-up to a Test match.

Joe Schmidt delivered brutal response

England eventually won the November 2025 encounter 25-7, but the argument did not end with the final whistle.

Schmidt accused England of gamesmanship and questioned the figures reported before the match.

According to The Independent, the Australian coach insisted that only ten incidents had been submitted to Amashukeli.

He also claimed the referee did not agree that every example was illegal.

Schmidt defended Australia's disciplinary record, pointing out that his side had completed more than 1,200 attacking rucks that year without any player being forced off injured by their clearouts.

The New Zealander insisted the controversy had not distracted his players or influenced the referee.

Borthwick, meanwhile, praised Amashukeli's performance but acknowledged England still had work to do at the breakdown.