SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Victory was there for the taking for England but Steve Borthwick lost the plot… he made a criminal and decisive mistake

England’s latest defeat by New Zealand left me genuinely angry. Steve Borthwick’s methods must be questioned because the game was there for the taking.

The team were in control.

England were 22-14 up on the hour mark when Borthwick committed a crime that he is not the only one guilty of. All international coaches have been afflicted by this particular problem, perhaps with the exception of Rassie Erasmus.

At 60 minutes, Borthwick made a raft of what clearly seemed premeditated substitutions. Off went Ben Spencer and Marcus Smith.

Chandler Cunningham-South soon followed them, despite the fact all three players were having fine games. The fact they were replaced cost England dearly.

Steve Borthwick’s decision to make changes against New Zealand proved costly for England

Marcus Smith was having a great showing when he was replaced with 20 minutes remaining

Chandler Cunningham-South (pictured) and Ben Spencer also made way, and England quickly lost control of the game

It was absolute madness. Not only was that trio standing out in an error-strewn yet titanic game, but they were also not fatigued in any way, shape or form.

When Smith sat down on the bench, he almost looked around and shrugged his shoulders as if to say ‘Is that it? Is that me done?’

For the first three quarters of the game, England were — on the whole — in control. The All Blacks scored two nice tries, but they made plenty of errors. Their discipline was poor.

With an eight-point advantage, England had the game by the scruff of the neck and needed to ram home their advantage. Instead, with Harry Randall and George Ford coming on as scrum-half and fly-half respectively, they opted to hold on to their lead.

This was a criminal and decisive mistake. In international rugby, you cannot simply contain an opponent and look to hang on to your advantage.

You have to earn the victory for the full 80 minutes. This is not a personal criticism of any individual player, more of a team tactic driven by the head coach.

Taking off Spencer and Smith was a daft decision. The same applies to the England front row, because New Zealand’s replacement props got on top at the set-piece and that gave them the platform and field position to win it at the death.

When Ford came on, he was waving his hands and urging the team to calm down. To me, it sent entirely the wrong message. The message was, ‘We’re going to hold on to this now’ rather than ‘We’re going to continue to play and win the game’.

Borthwick’s attempts to consolidate control allowed the All Blacks away into the game

And the visitors quickly took advantage of England taking their foot off the pedal

Ford’s missed penalty, which struck the post, and his last-gasp drop goal, which went wide, were not the reasons England lost. The substitutions were and England can’t hide from that.

It’s a massive chance gone begging. When Scott Barrett, the New Zealand captain, said England had ‘every opportunity’ to win the game, he was exactly right.

The team must — and I mean must — learn how to see out these tight matches to become a top side. The top brass at the RFU must ask tough questions of Borthwick about this.

With three more games against Australia, South Africa and Japan to come, it is difficult to do that now, given international rugby moves on and moves on quickly.

However, it must be done early this week if England are to learn from this experience and use it to better themselves in the future.

It was an odd game in many ways. For all the talk of England’s attacking progression, I actually thought they were poor in that area and far better in defence.

Their only try came through Immanuel Feyi-Waboso via a length-of-the-field breakaway. Smith’s boot kept England ticking over. But, while England’s defence was good on the whole, they still conceded three tries. Will Jordan’s effort was a great example of what New Zealand can do. They make attacking rugby look so simple when it’s done well.

George Ford had two last-gasp attempts to get England into the game but failed to convert

England have shown they are capable of doing this too, but we didn’t see it on Saturday.

The back line was very quiet and it was such a shame that players such as Ollie Lawrence and Tommy Freeman were non-existent as running forces. Lawrence and Freeman are wonderful with ball in hand. It is beyond a waste to not see them doing this.

In the 2-0 July Test series defeat by New Zealand, England fell away badly in the final quarter after a positive first 60 minutes. I don’t believe the reason that happened in the summer was entirely down to substitutions. But I certainly think it was the reason it happened this time.

Coaching at international rugby is about feel. It is not a simple game of mathematics. If the key to winning Test matches was replacing certain players at certain times, then anybody would be able to do it. International coaching cannot be — and will never be —about premeditated replacements.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with not bringing everyone on from your bench. I have been consistent on this for a long, long time now.

For example, when Dylan Hartley was England captain, it frustrated me hugely that he was constantly taken off in the second half despite him being the leader.

England and Borthwick need to learn valuable lessons from Saturday’s defeat and fast

On Saturday, although Smith wasn’t captain, he was in control of the England ship and it was sailing on smooth waters.

When he departed, all of a sudden the sea became choppy, and New Zealand were given a sniff of victory when there was previously none.

Huge credit to them for taking it. For England, this pain should hurt, and hurt for a very long time, predominantly because defeat was totally avoidable and of their own making.