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Borthwick to leave England assistant coach role as replacement named

Borthwick to leave England role

Steve Borthwick is to leave his role as England assistant coach with Jason Ryles due to replace him in November, the Rugby Football Union has announced.

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Borthwick, who has helped England to two Six Nations titles and was part of the coaching staff when the British & Irish Lions drew their Test series with New Zealand in 2017, will leave Eddie Jones’ staff at the end of the season and is widely expected to join Leicester.

He has worked with Jones since the latter appointed him as Japan’s forwards coach in 2012 soon after he ended a playing career in which he represented England 57 times.

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Jones said: “I have had a great seven years with Steve. He is a loyal, hard-working and analytical coach but I understand he needs now to get out on his own following this campaign. He’s made that decision and we are really pleased for him.

“He created a great lineout for England and really developed the young guys. If you look at someone like Maro Itoje, he’s become a world-class lock under Steve. He has also turned our maul into a weapon for us and he’s done brilliant work co-ordinating the England programme. We will miss him greatly.”

Borthwick said: “I am very proud of what we have achieved as a team since 2016, culminating in a Rugby World Cup Final last year.

“Having come back from Japan, spent time with my family and reflected on my time with England, I have decided to step away from the role towards the end of the season.”

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Ryles is due to join the England set-up in November, moving from Australian rugby league team Melbourne Storm, where he has been assistant since 2016.

He said: “I am really excited about the opportunity to work in a world-class programme with the England national team and someone like Eddie with his experience is very appealing for me.

“It will be a real honour to work with some of the best coaches and so many quality England players.”

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c
cw 4 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

Thanks JW for clarifying your point and totally agree. The ABs are still trying to find their mojo” - that spark of power that binds and defines them. Man the Boks certainly found theirs in Wellington! But I think it cannot be far off for ABs - my comment about two coaches was a bit glib. The key point for me is that they need first a coach or coaches that can unlock that power and for me that starts at getting the set piece right and especially the scrum and second a coach that can simplify the game plans. I am fortified in this view by NBs comment that most of the ABs tries come from the scrum or lineout - this is the structured power game we have been seeing all year. But it cannot work while the scrum is backpeddling. That has to be fixed ASAP if Robertson is going to stick to this formula. I also think it is too late in the cycle to reverse course and revert to a game based on speed and continuity. The second is just as important - keep it simple! Complex movements that require 196 cm 144 kg props to run around like 95kg flankers is never going to work over a sustained period. The 2024 Blues showed what a powerful yet simple formula can do. The 2025 Blues, with Beauden at 10 tried to be more expansive / complicated - and struggled for most of the season.

I also think that the split bench needs to reflect the game they “want” to play not follow some rote formula. For example the ABs impact bench has the biggest front row in the World with two props 195cm / 140 kg plus. But that bulk cannot succeed without the right power based second row (7, 4, 5, 6). That bulk becomes a disadvantage if they don’t have a rock solid base behind them - as both Boks showed at Eden Park and the English in London. Fresh powerful legs need to come on with them - thats why we need a 6-2 bench. And teams with this split can have players focused only on 40 minutes max of super high intensity play. Hence Robertson needs to design his team to accord with these basic physics.



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