Ban forces Borthwick out of Scotland clash

ENGLAND lock Steve Borthwick was last night handed a two-week ban by Rugby Football Union disciplinary chiefs.

The Bath forward was cited for striking England captain Lawrence Dallaglio on the head with his knee during a Zurich Premiership match against Wasps earlier this month.

Borthwick’s suspension will run from February 10 to February 23, meaning he cannot be considered for England Calcutta Cup appointment with Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Borthwick, who lost his place on the bench for England’s trip to Rome last weekend as a result of the citing, will not appeal against the ban following a two-hour hearing in Coventry last night.

Borthwick, 24, was found guilty of the offence by a three-man disciplinary panel. His next appearance, for club or country, is now likely to be Bath’s Powergen Cup quarter-final against Leeds at Headingley on February 28.

Meanwhile, England coach Clive Woodward has warned that his World Cup winners must step up a gear or risk seeing their Grand Slam defence shattered by Scotland on Saturday.

A 50-9 drubbing of Italy in Rome gave England the perfect Six Nations start but there were several aspects of the match Woodward found less than impressive.

“We’re very self-critical at the best of times. We’ve been through a lot of aspects of the Italy game and I don’t think we were operating at the world-class standards that we set for ourselves,” he said.