Steve Borthwick has insisted he is well equipped to block out the ­pressure of England’s current plight after Rassie Erasmus suggested he is under the pump and may feel like he “has a gun against his head”.

A number of ex-England ­stalwarts, including Clive Woodward and Will Carling, have taken aim at ­Borthwick after Saturday’s last-gasp defeat by Australia extended his side’s ­losing run to four. He retains the Rugby Football Union’s “100% ­support” but England could slip to eighth in the world rankings should they fail to arrest their ­losing streak against Erasmus’s ­Springboks on ­Saturday in the first meeting between the sides since last year’s ill-tempered World Cup semi-final.

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