Six Nations: England are sticking together, not cracking up – Tom Roebuck

Highly rated Bath attack coach Lee Blackett was appointed to the England set-up in September after a successful secondment on the summer tour of Argentina and the United States.

Scrum-half Ben Spencer, who worked under him at Bath, insists Blackett is operating as he did at club level.

“He’s definitely been himself,” said Spencer.

“He’s a great guy, he’s brilliant around the lads and he’s one of those guys who really gets the best out of people.

“He’s always speaking really positively around the group about scoring four tries in every game that we play.

“So in terms of that, I’ve definitely seen the same side of Lee that we saw at Bath.

“We’re all in this together, coaches, players, we’re going through a tough time at the minute. We had a great 2025 and that’s where we want to get back to and the only way we’re going to do it is together.”

Spencer says the faith is mutual, with the coaches giving the players freedom to go off-script and ignore a gameplan in which contestable high balls are a key way of moving up the pitch, if they see another opportunity.

“We’re absolutely given the licence,” said Spencer, who kicked the ball 14 times out of hand, the most of any player, in the defeat by Italy.

“It’s something that Lee talks about and Steve talks about in terms of playing what we see.

“So yeah, in terms of going away from plan, it’s not an issue.”