Ellis Genge feels like England are "damned if you do, damned if you don't" and says the criticism following their 16-15 win over Scotland "blew my mind".

Steve Borthwick's side are very much in contention for the Six Nations title, having bounced back from their opening defeat to Ireland with narrow victories over France and Scotland at the Allianz Stadium.

In the latter, they ended a run of four straight defeats in the Calcutta Cup, which they reclaimed for the first time since 2020.

England have certainly ridden their luck along the way. Les Bleus squandered multiple try-scoring opportunities, while Finn Russell missed a last-gasp conversion attempt for the Scots.

Gregor Townsend's side scored three tries to their opponents' one, and dominated the attacking statistics, including line breaks and metres made.

Nevertheless, vice-captain Genge has been left astounded by the level of criticism directed towards England's style of play - both from the fans and from ex-players in the media - and insists they should be judged by their results.

"We won the game and people are still upset about it," he said. "It blew my mind, to be honest.

"There is a feeling there, let's not be naive. You can feel that people were booing when we were playing. I love the fans, I think they're brilliant, I go round clapping them after every game.

"But post-game, the ex-players - recently retired and long retired - and people from years and years ago, I just can't believe how out of touch they are.

"The spiel that I'm reading from people saying how off it we are. We won two games on the bounce, and you're upset about it, I don't get it.

"It's like you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. In the last 18 months, every time we've lost by a point, we've been slandered. [Last weekend] we win by a point, and it's the same old story.

"Do you want to be part of a team that wins every single game by one point, or would you rather be part of a team that loses every single week, 40 points to 39? I know what type of team I want to be."

Sound on@finsmithh’s huge penaltypic.twitter.com/GSbCIF7rBC

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 25, 2025