LONDON (AP) — Only a week ago, England was surfing a 12-win wave.
All of that momentum and confidence built up in 12 months has been wiped out after consecutive emphatic losses to Scotland and Ireland in the Six Nations.
Scotland ended the streak at Murrayfield last weekend and Ireland tore down Twickenham’s walls on Saturday in a record 42-21 win.
After only three rounds, England is out of the title race and coach Steve Borthwick is going to need a bigger drawing board to stop all his work unravelling in the last matches against Italy and France, both on the road next month.
At the Six Nations launch last month, Borthwick talked up the last-round match against France on March 14 as a potential title decider but now he has to be worried about what shape his side will be in when they get to Paris.
“Two weeks ago after 12 wins on the bounce, people were saying we were the best team in the world,” Borthwick told the BBC, “and now we are all sorts of things. Neither of these are true. We are on a journey of development that has a lot of growth in it. That England team from today will be a lot better in two weeks time."
Another bad start doomed England. Scotland was 17-0 ahead after 14 minutes. Ireland was 22-0 ahead after 30.
“It was bitterly disappointing and huge credit to Ireland, they took their chances and their kicking game was excellent,” Borthwick said.
"This team has been very, very good for a quite a long time in games that are tight, even if we go a score or two down, being very strong in that second half and always finding a way to win that second half.
“Unfortunately for two weeks now we have given ourselves a mountain to climb, given the opposition too many points and we have not got scoreboard presence. We will be looking closely at that and how I set the team up to make sure it doesn't happen again.”
What was particularly dismaying for England was the role its leadership played in its own downfall.
Captain Maro Itoje, on the occasion of his 100th England test, was pulled after 54 minutes, two minutes less than he lasted against Scotland. Itoje usually plays the full 80 and is impactful. Also taken off early were scrumhalf Alex Mitchell, hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and fullback Freddy Steward in the first half as Borthwick tried to stop the bleeding.
George Ford failed with two early touch-finders and received an ironic cheer when he finally found touch. Yellow cards to Steward and Henry Pollock led to 14 Ireland points.
Prop Ellis Genge apologized.
“Conceding so many points in the first 15 minutes, no one knows what the answer is right now or we would have sorted it out,” Genge told the BBC. "It opened up scar tissue from last week.
“Sorry to the fans, you have been outstanding. We have let everyone down. Apologies for that but I promise we will make it better.”
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
England's George Ford, center, is tacked by Ireland's captain Caelan Doris, left, and his teammate Tadhg Furlong during the Six Nations rugby union match between England and Ireland in London, England, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
England's Henry Pollock, center, is tackled by Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park during the Six Nations rugby union match between England and Ireland in London, England, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Ireland's players celebrate following the Six Nations rugby union match between England and Ireland in London, England, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
U.S. forces on Monday launched an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds have been stuck since the Iran war began.
Two American-flagged merchant ships have “successfully transited” through the critical waterway, the U.S. military said. Separately, the U.S. military denied Iran’s claims that it struck an American Navy vessel southeast of the strait.
Iran handed over its latest proposal for negotiations with the U.S. to mediators in Pakistan, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday. Trump subsequently said he’s “not satisfied” with it, but did not elaborate on the proposal’s apparent shortcomings. The shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has lasted for three weeks.
Here's the latest:
The U.S. stock market is holding tentatively near its record heights Monday, while oil prices climb with uncertainty about when oil tankers can resume crossing the Strait of Hormuz and restore the world’s flow of crude. Dueling claims about a possible Iranian strike on a U.S. Navy vessel in the strait heightened the tensions.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 216 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%.
The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 2% to $110.37 and briefly topped $114 during the morning. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its war with the United States has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide. That in turn has sent the price of Brent soaring from roughly $70 per barrel before the war.
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Rubio will travel to Rome and Vatican City this week in a bid to ease rising tensions between the Trump administration and Pope Leo over U.S. policies, particularly with Iran.
The State Department said Monday that Rubio, a devout Catholic who’s visited Rome and the Vatican at least three times since becoming Trump’s top diplomat, would be in Italy on Thursday and Friday.
“Secretary Rubio will meet with Holy See leadership to discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere” the department said. “Meetings with Italian counterparts will be focused on shared security interests and strategic alignment.”
The trip comes as Trump has criticized Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, for his stances on the Middle East and elsewhere and posting social media images likening Trump to Jesus Christ.
The disruption of the waterway has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas, raising prices far beyond the region.
Trump has promised to bring down gas prices as he faces midterm elections this year.
The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran for transit of the strait. It has enacted a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling 49 commercial ships to turn back, U.S. Central Command said Sunday. The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
U.S. officials have expressed hope the blockade forces Iran back to the negotiation table.
The U.S. military said Monday that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz and Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf were helping to restore shipping traffic. It separately denied Iran’s claims to have struck an American Navy vessel.
The announcement came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new initiative to help guide ships through the critical waterway for global energy. Iran has effectively closed the strait since the U.S. and Israel started the war Feb. 28, rattling the global economy.
The U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center has advised ships to cross the strait in Oman’s waters, saying it set up an “enhanced security area.” U.S. Central Command didn’t say when the Navy ships arrived or when the merchant vessels departed.
It was unclear whether shipping companies, and their insurers, will feel comfortable taking the risk given that Iran has fired on ships in the waterway and vowed to keep doing so.
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President Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. step off from Marine One upon their arrival on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, May 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to board Air Force One at Ocala International Airport, in Ocala Fla., Friday, May 1, 2026, after speaking at an event in The Villages, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
President Donald Trump steps off from Marine One upon his arrival at the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, May 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
