Jamie George says England's players were "hurt" by a newspaper report of a rift with head coach Steve Borthwick in the summer, calling the timing of the article "shocking" ahead of Sunday's Nations Championship clash with Australia. The Times reported that some England players lost faith in Borthwick during a summer campaign with included a 45-21 defeat to world champions South Africa and a nervy win over Argentina. Speaking to Sky Sports News on Friday, hooker George, named in the starting XV to face the Wallabies this weekend, says the squad addressed the article and will use it to "galavanise" them.
The 36-year-old, who insisted England are "all massively behind Steve in every way possible" said: "I'm really disappointed with the article that's been written. There's not a huge amount of truth to any of it, really. "I think the timing of it is shocking, to be completely honest.
Releasing it two days before a Test match is always trying to be divisive, in my opinion. "I think that we're all quite hurt. We have made sure that we aren't distracted by it, but also allowing us to be galvanised by it, in a way, because we want to defend Steve.
"We are all massively behind Steve in every way possible. I think probably, unfortunately for them, it won't be divisive and it might be quite galvanising for us." George continued: "We had to address it. I spoke to [captain] Maro [Itoje] last night.
I don't like elephants in rooms. "I just think that everything is much better out in the open. Maro spoke brilliantly, opened it up.
George Ford then spoke brilliantly. We are disappointed with it. "At the same time, we're seeing it for what it is and understanding that we've got a really important role to step up now and look after Steve in every way that we know how.
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