England head coach Steve Borthwick is surprised by the scrutiny of Gregor Townsend's position as Scotland boss ahead of Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash at Murrayfield (4.40pm).
The Scots are reeling after being ambushed 18-15 by Italy in Rome, plunging them to 10th in the global rankings behind the Azzurri and placing doubt over Townsend’s ability to continue until the 2027 World Cup as contracted.
Former national team captain John Barclay declared this week that if they fail to finish in the top three then it "becomes a necessity to see a change".
Townsend was unable to guide Scotland out of the group stage of the 2019 and 2023 World Cups and has never finished higher than third in the Six Nations during his nine years in charge.
But Borthwick said ahead of England’s attempt to claim a first win at Murrayfield since 2020: "I think Gregor Townsend is a wonderful coach.
"I was told recently that he has the best win record of any Scotland coach in the professional era. Sir Ian McGeechan had two spells and Gregor sits above that.
"The way he has coached the attack they have and the way they move the ball, when they do that they look terrific.
"I have immense respect for him as a coach and I find it surprising that people are not spending more time talking about Scotland rather than not supporting their coach.
"He’s a phenomenal coach and they should spend more time supporting him."
In an indication of the rivals’ contrasting fortunes, England head to Murrayfield as odds-on favourites to retain the Calcutta Cup despite the ground being the graveyard of their title ambitions in recent times.
A 12-Test winning run means they march north of the border full of confidence and they have captain Maro Itoje (below) back in the starting XV after he was picked on the bench for the 48-7 rout of Wales following the recent death of his mother.
Luke Cowan-Dickie is promoted at hooker in the only other change to the starting XV with Jamie George and Alex Coles dropping to the replacements, where Fin Smith ousts Marcus Smith having recovered from from a calf injury.
Henry Pollock continues in his super-sub role after being given license to roam by Borthwick as England look to build positional flexibility for the 2027 World Cup.
The Northampton flanker continues to be seen as an option for the wing during matches.
"Henry’s got incredible pace and super handling skills and you see not just his ability to make breaks, but how he supports breaks," Borthwick said.
"How often do you see him on somebody’s shoulder taking an offload and then running on and scoring or potentially giving another offload for somebody else to score?
"His skill set and the way he plays the game is less within a structure and more within having a freedom roam to go and find the ball and find where he needs to be. I’m very confident with him in that position."
England: Freddie Steward; Tom Roebuck, Tommy Freeman, Fraser Dingwall, Henry Arundell; George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan‑Dickie, Joe Heyes; Maro Itoje (capt), Ollie Chessum, Guy Pepper, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Jamie George, Bevan Rodd, Trevor Davison, Alex Coles, Tom Curry, Henry Pollock, Ben Spencer, Fin Smith.
Watch Ireland v Italy in the Under-20 Six Nations on Friday from 7.25pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Watch Scotland v England on RTÉ Player
Follow a live blog on Ireland v Italy in the Six Nations on Saturday from 2.10pm on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
