Dublin (AFP) - England coach Steve Borthwick has urged his side to “hit the ground running” as they bid to improve their poor recent record in the Six Nations Championship.

Borthwick has been the first to acknowledge that England have won just 50 percent of their matches from the last six editions – a run that includes two fifth-place finishes under predecessor Eddie Jones.

England have suffered three defeats from five matches in the past three Six Nations – including a record 53-10 home loss to France at Twickenham last year during Borthwick’s first Championship in charge.

Towards the end of Jones’s time as England boss, the veteran Australian coach angered some fans by suggesting Six Nations losses could be downplayed if all went well at the World Cup.

But that is not something that sits well with Borthwick, even though he guided England to a third-place finish at last year’s global showpiece in France.

“We want to make sure this England team is competing in every single game, which is not something you can say about recent years,” he told reporters at Monday’s Six Nations launch in Dublin.

England begin this season’s tournament away to Italy on February 3 and former captain Borthwick added: “The team is really well aware that we haven’t performed in the Six Nations for a period of time.

“Ireland and France have been the dominant teams and everybody is trying to compete with those two sides.

“Our intent is to hit the ground running in Rome the way we want with the intensity that we want to, which again is something that England have not done in recent years.

“At times we have not jumped into this tournament and have been caught in that first game.”

England will travel to Girona, northern Spain, for a pre-Six Nations training camp, with former lock Borthwick saying: “We want this to be a different mindset for England, a different way of approaching the game and the tournament. And we will approach our camp in Girona differently.

“We’re taking a different approach because we need different results to previous tournaments.”