Ugo Monye has spoken out in support of England captain Steve Borthwick © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Steve Borthwick | Ugo Monye

Tournaments/Tours: Six Nations | Six Nations

Teams: England

England wing Ugo Monye has spoken out in support of under-fire skipper Steve Borthwick as the Six Nations approaches.

Monye won his first caps during England's abject autumn internationals, a time when Borthwick's leadership credentials were roundly dismissed as his side were hammered by Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

Borthwick has retained the captaincy for the Six Nations, and Monye believes that he was unfairly targeted as a scapegoat in the autumn.

"Steve is a great captain. Invariably he's at the forefront of everything we do," said the Harlequins winger, speaking on behalf of Greene King IPA, the Official Beer of England and Harlequins. "He takes a huge amount of responsibility on the pitch and works very closely with the coaches.

"People always look for a scapegoat when things go wrong and being captain he was always going to face more criticism than anyone else. It was the first time I'd worked under Steve Borthwick and I thought he was excellent, I learnt a lot from him.

"The players' support is never in question. Everyone has a huge amount of respect for the guy."

England's challenge for the title has been dismissed in many quarters, with most ranking them as outsiders for a tournament that they haven't won for six years. With difficult away trips to Croke Park and the Millennium Stadium around the corner, England will have to hit the ground running against Italy on February 7.

"Maybe in the public's eye being third favourites is a fair reflection of where we are," said Monye. "We had a tough autumn series but within the squad there's an incredible amount of belief. There is so much steel and determination to move on and produce the sort of performances we know we can.

"I believe we have the right players and coaching staff to achieve that. We took a lot of criticism as there's a huge amount of pride and expectation surrounding English rugby. But the greatest expectation comes from the players ourselves and we've all had our pride dented."

Having taken his opportunity in the autumn, replacing the injured James Simpson-Daniel, Monye is now looking forward to his first taste of Europe's biggest competition and maintains that coach Martin Johnson's assertion that England aren't fit enough was not the reason for their recent troubles.

"On a personal level I'm looking forward to it - this will be my first Six Nations and I believe we can do something special. We let ourselves down in the autumn. We had more possession and territory against the southern hemisphere sides than we ever have done in the past.

"I didn't think the difference in fitness levels was too apparent, the main difference was they took their chances - they didn't create many but every time they got into that danger zone they scored."