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)
MILAN (AP) — Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo set the record for the most golds by one athlete in a single Winter Olympics as the Norwegian star completed his historic gold medal sweep of the men’s cross-country skiing events on Saturday.
Klaebo’s triumph in the 50-kilometer mass start race was his sixth victory at the Milan Cortina Games and shattered the nearly 50-year record set by American speed skater Eric Heiden, who won five golds in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
Klaebo’s teammates, Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, took silver, and Emil Iversen won bronze in a Norwegian sweep.
The win extends Klaebo’s record for most career Winter Olympic gold medals to 11 over three Games. The previous record had been eight, which Klaebo broke Feb. 15.
Klaebo has the second-most Olympic golds overall. U.S. swimming great Michael Phelps has 23.
Jordan Stolz missed out on his chance to become the first man since 1994 to collect three gold medals in long track speedskating at one Olympics, with the American finishing fourth in the mass start behind 40-year-old champion Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands.
Bergsma is the oldest man to win a speedskating gold, finishing ahead of Viktor Hald Thorup of Denmark and Italy's Andrea Giovannini.
The gold in the women’s mass start also went to a Dutch skater: reigning world champion Marijke Groenewoud. Ivanie Blondin of Canada was the silver medalist for the second Games in a row, followed by Mia Manganello of the U.S. with the bronze.
The United States Olympic team won its record-breaking 11th gold medal of the Games when the trio of Kaila Kuhn, Connor Curran and Chris Lillis took the title in mixed aerials.
The 11th gold breaks the country’s record set at the last Olympics on U.S. soil — in Salt Lake City in 2002.
Finland won the bronze medal in men’s hockey at the Olympics for a third consecutive time with NHL players participating, beating Slovakia 6-1.
Erik Haula scored two goals and Joel Armia had a goal and two assists for Finland, which also got bronze in Sochi in 2014 and in Vancouver in 2010, and left Turin in 2006 with silver.
The U.S. faces Canada for gold on Sunday.
The Canadian men beat Britain for gold in curling while the women's team overcame its disappointment to beat the U.S, for the bronze.
Brad Jacobs’ team defeated Bruce Mouat’s all-Scottish squad 9-6 inside Cortina’s historic ice arena to give curling powerhouse Canada it’s only gold of the Olympics in the sport.
In the women’s event, top-ranked Canada won 10-7 to deny the American women their first medal in the event.
Rachel Homan’s team had been upset by Sweden in the semifinals.
Kaillie Humphries Armbruster won her sixth career Olympic bobsled medal, tying monobob gold medalist Elana Meyers Taylor for the most by any woman in the sport’s history.
The American claimed bronze in the two-woman race, behind Laura Nolte — who successfully defended her title — and Lisa Buckwitz.
Emily Harrop finally got her hands on an Olympic gold medal, combining with Thibault Anselmet to win the mixed relay for France as part of ski mountaineering’s Olympic debut.
Harrop and Anselmet finished the Stelvio course in a time of 26 minutes, 57.44 seconds, holding off the Swiss team of Marianne Fatton and Jon Kistler by 11.86 seconds. Spanish racers Ana Alonso Rodriguez and Oriol Cardona Coll captured the bronze.
Harrop had been favored to win the individual sprint race on Thursday and the first-ever skimo Olympic medal but finished behind Fatton. Anselmet was third in his race, with Cardona Coll claiming gold.
Freeskiers Simone Deromedis and Federico Tomasoni added to the Olympic host country’s medal haul with a 1-2 finish in the men’s skicross final.
Deromedis dominated the four-skier final to win gold while Tomasoni needed a photo-finish to claim silver after stretching to barely beat Alex Fiva. They both celebrated with Italian flags draped over their shoulders as snow fell.
Deromedis gave Italy its 10th gold medal of the Milan Cortina Olympics. Italy’s overall haul is 30 at the end of the penultimate day.
Italy's previous best Winter Olympics was the Lillehammer Games in 1994, when it picked up 20 medals.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
France's Emily Harrop competes during a ski mountaineering mixed relay, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Gold medalists United States' Christopher Lillis, Connor Curran and Kaila Kuhn celebrate after the freestyle skiing mixed team aerials final at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Gold medallist Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands celebrates winning the men's mass start final speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Jordan Stolz of the U.S. warms up ahead of the mass start speedskating races at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, of Norway, crosses the finish line to win the gold medal during the cross country skiing men's 50km mass start Classic at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Tesero, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
