Monye - Don't blame Steve

Monye: Backing Borthwick

The players' support is never in question. Everyone has a huge amount of respect for Steve, I kid you not.

Ugo Monye
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Ugo Monye has leapt to the defence of Steve Borthwick, claiming the England captain has the full support of the team.

Saracens lock Borthwick has come in for some heavy criticism following defeats in the autumn internationals to South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

However Monye believes Borthwick, who will lead England during the RBS Six Nations, has been harshly made the scapegoat for the dismal run of form.

"Steve is a great captain. Invariably he's at the forefront of everything we do," said Monye, who won all four of his England caps during the autumn.

"He takes a huge amount of responsibility on the pitch and works very closely with the coaches.

"People always look for a scapegoat when things go wrong and being captain he was always going to face more criticism than anyone else.

"It was the first time I'd worked under Steve Borthwick and I thought he was excellent, I learnt a lot from him.

"The players' support is never in question. Everyone has a huge amount of respect for the guy, I kid you not."

Belief

The defeats by the southern hempishere have seen England largely dismissed as contenders for the Six Nations title.

However Harlequins winger Monye insists the squad have faith in themselves that they can produce the level of performances to win the title.

"Maybe in the public's eye being third favourites is a fair reflection of where we are," said the 25-year-old.

"We had a tough autumn series but within the squad there's an incredible amount of belief.

"There is so much steel and determination to move on and produce the sort of performances we know we can.

"I believe we have the right players and coaching staff to achieve that.

"We took a lot of criticism as there's a huge amount of pride and expectation surrounding English rugby.

"But the greatest expectation comes from the players ourselves and we've all had our pride dented.

"On a personal level I'm looking forward to it - this will be my first Six Nations and I believe we can do something special.

"We let ourselves down in the autumn. We had more possession and territory against the southern hemisphere sides than we ever have done in the past."