After masterminding Japan’s breakthrough performances at this year’s Rugby World Cup, Eddie Jones and Steve Borthwick have been reunited in England’s restructured coaching setup.
Former England captain Borthwick was hired as the forwards coach on Tuesday in the first appointment to Jones’ backroom staff.
“Steve has a huge amount of international experience as a player and a captain, and his coaching in Japan in recent years shows he can get the best out of the players at the highest level,” Jones said.
Photo: AFP
England are in the process of overhauling their coaching staff after a humiliating World Cup campaign, where they became the first host team to fail to advance from the pool stage. Stuart Lancaster was fired as head coach last month — and was replaced by Jones — while assistant coaches Mike Catt, Graham Rowntree and Andy Farrell were released on Monday.
Borthwick, who played 57 times for England from 2001 to 2010 — and was captain in 21 of those games — worked alongside Jones with Japan for three years. At the World Cup, the Brave Blossoms beat South Africa 34-32 in the pool stage in arguably the biggest shock in international rugby, and won three of their four pool matches.
Borthwick was widely praised for his tactical astuteness at the lineout and in the scrum, enabling Japan’s forwards to prosper against some of the world’s best packs.
“He is a very analytical guy,” Jones said. “He loves rugby and he loves the set-piece. We have got a good working relationship. He is very much a detail guy, so works well with the way I approach things.”
The 36-year-old Borthwick had been working as a coach at second-tier English team Bristol since the World Cup. Bristol on Tuesday said that they have not agreed to let Borthwick join England, and they did not give the England Rugby Football Union permission to speak to him.
“Bristol Rugby will take all reasonable actions as necessary to protect the club’s position,” Bristol said in a statement, adding that Borthwick is subject to a recently signed long-term contract.
On Sunday, English club Saracens said its defense and forwards coach, Paul Gustard, is considering the offer of a role as assistant coach in England’s new regime.
Jones gave Gustard his first coaching role in 2008 while at Saracens, where Borthwick also played and coached.
England’s first game under Jones is against Scotland in the Six Nations on Feb. 6.
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