Sir Clive Woodward reveals the three reasons England lost to Scotland

The World Cup-winning coach saw plenty of reasons for optimism despite the men in white losing 29-23 to Scotland in their Six Nations opener.

England were leading at Twickenham until Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe scored his second try with seven minutes remaining.

Woodward wants a number of quick fixes when England host Italy as strong favourites in their next game in eight days' time.

He wrote: "I am sure that when Sinfield reviews the game, he will be asking why the England players were kicking so long.

"You either kick short to compete or go as long as possible to hit grass and turn the opposition defence. England did neither and got stuck in a halfway house. They paid the price for doing that with Van der Merwe’s try."

Woodward added: "Genge’s effort was an excellent score and showed what England can do when they play with pace. It came at a crucial moment in the game and when it happened, I thought it would be the key to England going on to win. But straight from the Scotland restart, England knocked on. 

"That sort of error is an absolute killer for a head coach. Scotland scored immediately from the field position they were given by the mistake. You can’t legislate for that as a coach."

Woodward wrote: "My final point is Borthwick’s decision to replace Genge and Kyle Sinckler. I thought both props were having excellent games.

"Mako Vunipola and Dan Cole are hugely experienced Test operators, but I would have kept Genge and Sinckler on to continue the momentum.

"Jamie George played the whole game in the front row, so why couldn’t Genge or Sinckler?"