The England jersey appears to be “weighing heavy” for Steve Borthwick’s players after defeat by Scotland in the Six Nations, says Ugo Monye.
England’s attack continued to struggle as the losing run against their oldest rivals stretched to four games.
Former England wing Monye says Borthwick may have to “evolve” as head coach before the team improves.
“Any of the top four Premiership sides would look more cohesive against Scotland than England did,” said Monye.
Speaking to BBC Rugby Union Daily, Monye added: “The only difference is the shirt.
“Scotland are miles better than England and have been for several years and we know international rugby is a step above.
“But with the collective buy-in of having a load of players performing well at domestic level, you would expect them to grow into that jersey, and at the moment it look like it weighs heavy.”
Borthwick’s side started brightly at Murrayfield as George Furbank scored an early try before the error count began to mount against a Scotland side who had a clinical edge their visitors lacked.
England are ranked fifth in the world but have scored two tries in each of their three Six Nations games so far and Monye says the “philosophy” must change.
“I’m not sure what they are training, but in order for this team to evolve into the team they have the potential to be and what the world rankings suggest they have to be, I think Steve Borthwick has to evolve first before the team evolves,” Monye added.
“We know he [Borthwick] is fairly pragmatic.
“I have known Steve for a long time. He was my captain for England and did a brilliant job coaching Leicester and has done a reasonable job with England, but there is a void between where the game is getting to and how Steve Borthwick is coaching this team.
“To take that step up to catch Scotland and compete with France and Ireland, unless the coaching philosophy and the way we set up our team changes, this team is not going to.”
Borthwick’s side host defending champions Ireland in their next match before facing France on the final day, and Monye says England’s campaign could begin to falter after defeat in Edinburgh.
“This Six Nations could massively unravel,” said Monye.
“Two wins from two and a great start and then it could go bang, bang, bang. What felt like a team that could potentially get over this and move on could be looking in their rear-view mirror.”