England collected the most cards of any side in a Six Nations since Italy in 2002, including eight yellows that produced two reds. The RFU identified discipline as a priority for improvement over the summer, yet progress has been absent.

Ex-scrum-half Matt Dawson labeled the issue "verging on comical" once the team's yellow-card count for the year hit 14 during their tense 31-24 victory against Argentina.

Borthwick declined to examine the discipline problems immediately after the Santiago del Estero win.

The question remains when that discussion will occur.

A dominant 73-8 triumph over Fiji in Liverpool halted a five-match losing sequence and stood as the sole outing this year without a yellow card.

Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper were sin-binned late against the Springboks.

Former England scrum-half Danny Care noted on BBC's Rugby Union Weekly that Borthwick's team has played more than two hours across eight 2026 fixtures with reduced numbers.

"It is the same stuff. It is not thuggish behaviour or violence," Care said.

"It is the little ones that you do not get away with under pressure, and pressure makes you do silly things.

"They have to work it out quite quickly. The senior players and coaches have a big job to limit them, as they won't win Test matches against the best teams."

England posted 125 points in July, a figure boosted by Fiji's collapse and a period with 14 players.

The side kicked more than any other team during the Six Nations.

Borthwick's players also posted the second-highest number of visits to the opposition 22 in the championship but converted those entries at just 2.7 points each.

Only Italy fared worse at 1.6 points per visit, prompting the RFU to demand greater attacking threat this summer.

Lee Blackett's attack, which tested South Africa at times, flowed best against Fiji yet showed real promise in the opening half versus Argentina.

"That first half was brilliant. England dominated, commanded and controlled everything," said former England wing Ugo Monye.

England crossed for three first-half tries in a charged atmosphere, with wings Tommy Freeman and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, absent from this year's Six Nations through injury, creating constant danger.

Feyi-Waboso, 23, shone brightest. From 12 carries he beat 13 defenders, gained 116 metres and delivered four line breaks.

His value showed as he started all four November Tests that formed part of England's 12-game winning run.

Fitness has been Feyi-Waboso's main hurdle, and England must handle him and Freeman, who has looked sharper on the wing than at 13, carefully over the coming year.

"That [Argentina] was Manny's [Feyi-Waboso] best game for England," Monye added.

"I don't know why it has taken England so long. Their gameplan to get him [Feyi-Waboso] into the game is everything that Northampton do with Tommy Freeman to get him into the game.

"There was a period where he may have thought his role in this England team was to chase kicks and try to get the ball back."

"You're like the negativity committee, so it's lovely coming and talking to you again."

Borthwick, normally calm with the media, showed rare sharpness in Argentina.

The hosts lost a chance to equalise when Bautista Delguy's 83rd-minute try was ruled out amid controversy.

Before the match Borthwick was questioned on selection continuity: "That's four new caps in the past two weeks - how many caps did you want?"

England also drew scrutiny ahead of the 2023 World Cup amid five defeats in six outings and a historic loss to Fiji.

Care featured at the 2023 World Cup and remembers Borthwick fostering "a narrative within the group that it's you against the world".

"We did that at the 2023 World Cup, and it worked," Care added.

"Internally, what Steve is really good at is galvanising the group by saying, 'Look, even the media are having a go at us now, let's go and prove everyone wrong.'

"I didn't mind him clapping back a little bit. At least it showed a bit of fight because what people have said about Steve before is they can't break through to him and he's almost a little bit robotic."

Borthwick relied on seasoned players familiar with criticism to reach the 2023 World Cup semi-finals.

Since then the squad has been refreshed with emerging talents such as Henry Pollock, Freeman and Feyi-Waboso, while further depth is being developed.

Captain Maro Itoje returns from a rare summer rest, and the team has now tasted both a 12-game winning streak and a five-game losing run.

Extensive summer travel has probably contributed to why the standout display at the end of the Six Nations against France in Paris has not been repeated.

Yet two points off the summit in the northern hemisphere section of the Nations Championship, Borthwick's side sit well placed to host Australia, Japan and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium in November.

Nine fixtures remain before the World Cup warm-ups, so the window for major change is narrowing.