England's disciplinary issues are something head coach Steve Borthwick 'needs to address' - RFU chief Bill Sweeney
By Ben Morse
Published 04/11/2026 at 19:01 GMT
The disciplinary issues which have dogged England over recent matches are something they "need to address", according to Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive Bill Sweeney. England face Australia in a Nations League showdown this weekend.
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Head coach Steve Borthwick has often had to deal with a reduced line-up due to sin bins or red cards, an issue which has hampered their chances of winning matches.
In this year's Six Nations alone - a tournament in which England finished fifth - they received eight yellow cards and one red. In total, they played 118 minutes without 15 players on the field.
In their first batch of Nations Championship matches in the summer, England were reduced to 13 men in a heavy defeat to South Africa, and four second-half yellows allowed Argentina to almost mount a miraculous comeback.
Sweeney said maintaining a full quota of players is high on the governing bodies' agenda ahead of this autumn's second stint of Nations Championship games and the 2027 World Cup.
"It has been a big internal discussion," Sweeney said, per the BBC. "Steve [Borthwick]'s very conscious of that and he's working really hard with the players to improve that aspect.
"You need all your players on the pitch for as long as possible. That's something we need to address."
Sweeney explained that data suggests that England are the second-best side in the world when they have a full complement of players, but dip to eighth or ninth when they have been reduced to 14 players.
England take on Australia at Allianz Stadium on Sunday in their first of three games coming this month. Matches against Japan and New Zealand will follow.
Depending on where they finish in the Northern Hemisphere table, England will play whichever Southern Hemisphere side finishes in the same position in their table, with Finals Weekend taking place across three days at Allianz Stadium on November 27-29.
England are currently third in the Northern Hemisphere table - with Australia in the same position in their Southern Hemisphere table - but plenty of rugby is still ahead to decide how the inaugural edition of this tournament pans out.
There is increasing pressure on Borthwick to produce results, especially after the disappointment of the Six Nations.
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His contract was extended in September, with it now running until the end of the 2028 Six Nations tournament. And Sweeney reiterated his backing for the head coach.
"We're committed to Steve, we've extended his contract to the middle of 2028," Sweeney said, per The Guardian.
"We believe in what he's doing. We had a difficult Six Nations this year, we accept that, but we just want to see continued progress and we’re backing him to get that done.
"We just felt that going into a World Cup is a tough enough challenge anyway. We wanted our coaching team just to be focused on the World Cup, not be thinking about: 'Oh, I don't have a role lined up' and be thinking about that in the build-up.
"It was to take away any distraction around that, and take that same coaching team through into the transition into the Six Nations in 2028. That was the sole intention. It was the same process with the women's team."
England fixtures
- England v Australia - Sunday, November 8 (kick-off 15:10 UK time)
- England v Japan - Saturday, November 14 (kick-off 16:40 UK time)
- England v New Zealand - Saturday, November 21 (kick-off 14:10 UK time)
Watch and stream the Gallagher PREM and Premiership Women's Rugby live with TNT Sports on HBO Max.
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