Steve Borthwick revealed that advice from his predecessors as England head coach helped focus his mind entering one of the most important moments of his Twickenham reign.

Australia were crushed 45-22 to launch the autumn with a bang as Borthwick’s players delivered an emphatic rebuttal to a report stating that he presided over a toxic environment during the July tour.

A record win against the Wallabies has relieved the pressure on Borthwick, who on Wednesday was given the full backing of Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney to remain in place for next year’s World Cup.

England’s Maro Itoje with the Ella-Mobbs Trophy (David Davies/PA) (PA Wire)

However, England needed a convincing win amid an otherwise poor 2026 to stop the storm clouds swirling around their under-fire boss, who was the focus of a newspaper article calling into question his methods and man-management skills.

Borthwick said: “In the last couple of days, a number of my predecessors reached out to me constantly and they…