Steve Borthwick was appointed in December 2022, taking over from Eddie Jones, and led England to the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-finals

Head coach Steve Borthwick has been backed to turn around England's form after a Rugby Football Union review blamed a lack of discipline, accuracy and cutting edge, among other factors, for a dismal Six Nations campaign.

England's only victory was an opening-round rout of Wales, who would go on to finish bottom of the table.

Defeats in their other four games constituted England's worst performance since the tournament's expansion from the Five Nations in 2000.

"This has been a thorough and honest review, and it is clear that improvement will come from addressing several areas rather than chasing one simple answer," said RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney.

"This is a young England team that is still growing and developing, and we understand progress in international sport is rarely linear.

"Steve has engaged in this process with full openness and has clear plans in place to address these findings.

"We are all behind him and his coaching team going into the Nations Championship and the series of matches leading into Rugby World Cup 2027."

A dissection of England's performance, carried out by an unnamed panel of rugby figures who interview coaches and players, is standard practice after a Six Nations campaign.

However Sweeney previously admitted that this year's would have to delve deeper into an "unusual outcome".

The RFU says "performance confidentiality in a competitive sporting environment" prevents them revealing full details of England's shortcomings.

However, it did say they came in multiple areas, while adding that Borthwick's case was strengthened by the year-long winning streak England compiled immediately before their dip in form.

"The review concluded that, despite coming off a 12-game winning run, England's underperformance across the Six Nations was not the result of a singular failure or issue," it said.

"Instead, it highlighted a number of interconnected performance areas, such as discipline, execution of opportunities and making the most of key moments, where improvement is required if England are to consistently perform at the level expected.

"We recognise why supporters felt frustrated and that they expected more. That disappointment was shared internally, and it underpinned the seriousness with which everyone engaged in this process.

"England head coach Steve Borthwick has engaged in the review with honesty and rigour, and he and his coaching team are already addressing issues identified."

Henry Arundell received a 20-minute red card against Scotland

During the Six Nations, England picked up eight yellow cards, two of which combined to make Henry Arundell's 20-minute red against Scotland, undermining their efforts. It was the highest number of cards received by any team in a tournament campaign since Italy's ill-disciplined 2002 showing.

Elsewhere, they recorded the second-highest number of entries into the opposition 22m (53, behind champions France's 57), but took an average of only 2.7 points from each visit. Only Italy, with an average of 1.6 points, had a worse return.

England kicked the ball more than any other team in the Six Nations, frequently frustrating fans with the lack of variety in their gameplan.

Borthwick had insisted that his side had licence to innovate on the pitch and play instinctively if openings appeared, and the seven tries scored in a narrow defeat by France in the final round showed promise.

"The way in which the team aspires to play was clear throughout the review," added the RFU.

England's next match is in Johannesburg against world champions South Africa on 4 July, before games against Fiji and Argentina on the following weekends.

The Springboks have recruited assistant coach Felix Jones and analyst Joe Lewis from Borthwick's set-up over the past 18 months, ensuring they will have their own inside line on England's strengths and weaknesses.

England's first match at the Rugby World Cup, a pool-stage meeting with Tonga in Brisbane, is less than 16 months away.

Steve Borthwick received qualified support from his RFU bosses during the Six Nations, but a few months on – and a "detailed and robust review" later – the England head coach has had his hand strengthened, with Twickenham chiefs, both in public and private, reiterating he is the man to take England through to the World Cup next year.

The RFU statement leaves other questions unanswered. It doesn't take a forensic review for England fans to learn the team had too many yellow cards and didn't execute well enough during the Six Nations; they have eyes and watched the games. However, why England's 2025 progress stalled so dramatically, and why the team regressed so alarmingly, is still unexplained, in public at least.

What is clear is how the players want to play with the same freedom they showed on the final day against France, and the challenge for Borthwick going forward is to give them the confidence and licence to do that.

Ultimately though, as the RFU acknowledges, reviews and statements mean very little in the whole scheme of things. The only currency is winning, and England need to do that this summer to keep the supporters believing.

Those at the top of the RFU are confident the lessons of the Six Nations have been learned, and the team is set for a bright future. South Africa at Ellis Park in July will give us a good idea of whether this is the case.

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Nine people have died in an explosion at a coal mine in Colombia in the latest fatal accident to hit the country's mining sector.

Emergency workers said they had rescued six miners from the shafts in Sutatausa, north of the capital, Bogotá.

Colombia's national mining agency said a build-up of gases was thought to have caused the explosion at 16:00 (21:00 GMT) on Monday.

It also published a list of recommendations it said it had made to the mine's operators after an inspection less than a month ago, in which it had warned of a "potentially dangerous gas build-up". Many mines in Colombia are operated informally and without proper safety standards.

The captain of the regional fire department, Álvaro Farfán, said emergency workers were still working to retrieve the miners' bodies.

Those who survived are being treated in hospital.

Last July, 18 workers were rescued from an unlicensed gold mine after having been trapped underground for 18 hours due to a mechanical failure.

One of the deadliest recent incidents also unfolded in Sutatausa in 2023, when 21 people died in a blast which tore through the tunnels of a complex of coal mines in the area.

That explosion was caused by a build-up of methane gas, investigators said at the time.

Sutatausa has been a coal-mining centre for decades with many of its residents working in the industry.

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Stargazers are in for a treat as the Eta Aquarid meteor shower is set to light up UK skies.

As many as 30 to 40 meteors per hour could streak across the predawn sky as the display reaches its peak on 6 May.

Taking place annually, the Eta Aquarid shower occurs when Earth passes through debris left behind by Halley's comet.

It lasts for around three weeks between mid-April and the end of May.

This year, the Eta Aquarid meteor shower is expected to be visible through to 28 May, but it will peak in the early hours of 6 May.

Generally, however, there will be increased meteor activity for a few days on either side of the peak.

To catch a glimpse of the shower, you should head outside between midnight and dawn and avoid areas where there is significant light pollution.

You won't need binoculars or a telescope, as this shower will be visible with the naked eye. However, it will take around 15-20 minutes for your eyes to adapt, so be patient.

Forecast for the early hours of Wednesday morning

Large areas of cloud will affect many parts of the UK during the first part of Tuesday night but this cloud will break to give some clear spells, particularly in the north of the UK.

Stargazers in Scotland are likely to have the best of the conditions with clear skies for much of the night.

Northern and eastern England will see some big breaks in the cloud too, albeit with the chance of one or two showers – while in Northern Ireland cloud amounts will increase a little during the early hours.

It will be more of a struggle further south with cloud lingering across much of Wales and southern England, as well as parts of the Midlands, although even here occasional breaks are possible.

Temperatures will drop into single digits, perhaps falling below freezing in parts of Scotland and Northern England.

For the most up to date information, check the hour-by-hour forecast where you live on the BBC Weather website or app.

Meteor showers take place when dust from a passing comet or asteroid passes through the Earth's atmosphere.

The tiny particles – roughly the size of a grain of sand – vaporise, creating visible streaks of light.

As the Earth passes through the densest part of the dust stream, more meteors are visible.

This article was updated to reflect that the peak of the shower is 6 May, rather than 5 May as originally written.

Northern Lights shine unusually far south across the UK

Eye-catching celestial events to look out for in 2025

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