The 'made in heaven' coach switch-up ex-England star urges Borthwick to make

Dan Robson is urging England to make a “match made in heaven” by bringing in Lee Blackett as attack coach after he made a major impact on the successful summer tour to Argentina and the USA.

Blackett is currently contracted to Premiership champions Bath but it is understood Steve Borthwick, the England head coach, was so impressed with the backline play in the Americas that he wants to make him the new attack coach with Richard Wigglesworth, who was with the British and Irish Lions in Australia, switching to the defence coach role.

Robson joined Wasps at the same time as Blackett in 2015 and won his 14 England caps there before the club went bust making both men redundant in 2022. Robson headed to France where he plays for Pau in the Top 14 while Blackett, who still lives in the Midlands, commuted for a short period to look after the Scarlets backs before joining Johan van Graan’s coaching set-up at Bath.

Having played under Blackett, first as Wasps attack coach and then as director of rugby in succession to Dai Young, Robson knows exactly why his former boss has been a success with both Bath and England. Robson told RugbyPass: “You could see from England’s summer tour there was a clear mindset change and clearly Steve Borthwick has been impressive with Lee which is unsurprising. To do what they did in Argentina after they beat the Lions was great and Lee should take a lot of credit for that.

“With that talent and depth in the England back division then it could be a match made in heaven and hopefully reignite the England attack and we can then see these players used to their full potential in the build-up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

“His coaching is second to none and in my opinion he is the best backs and attack coach I have worked with. His vision for the game and knowledge is second to none and for me it is how he can look at the opposition in the week of a game and work out how to break them down. In the last couple of years watching Bath, what has impressed me is that they went to these big clubs like Toulouse and they were almost cutting them apart with their attacking shape and strike moves.

“They had a really clear game plan of what to do and were all on the same page. Lee will put the right people in the right positions and it’s not a case of let’s run this call because I think it will work. He runs it because he puts Alfie Barbeary here and Finn Russell there and gets Ollie Lawrence over the gain. He plays to individual players’ strengths and has a real vision for that.

“I arrived at Wasps from Gloucester at the same time as Lee and didn’t know a lot about him. It took a year or two for Lee to bed in at Wasps, finding his feet at a time when we had a lot of big-name players.

“I owe a lot to him from his coaching days at Wasps and he would add a massive, massive amount to the England team and get boys excited about attack. That has probably been missing with England over the last couple of years when you watch them play. The one thing with Lee is that he won’t shy away from playing rugby and it will get bums off seats. It will be an exciting time.”

How Blackett gets the best out of players is something that Robson sees as another major strength, honed when he had to take over as Wasps director of rugby which changed the dynamic at the club. “With Dai leaving, Lee put his hand up and did immensely well in that role,” added the 33-year-old who forms an all-English half-back partnership at Pau with Joe Simmonds. “He learnt a lot going from being a backs coach where you can be everyone’s best mate and have a laugh with to then being the boss who tells guys they are being dropped. I reckon he learnt a lot from that period.

“He has always been honest and I have appreciated that no matter the conversation and I felt I could always go into his office and chat. That creates a better environment. It was a joy to play in the Wasps team and as a player you want to play for coaches who inspire you and make you and the team better. That is the kind of guy you want at the top level. Fingers crossed it gets over the line.”

So what is a Blackett back division? “We played Bath in the European Challenge Cup knockout stages and I had a good chat with the Pau squad going into that game and said we needed to be prepared for anything. You cannot look at Bath and say ‘right this is what they have been doing for the last four weeks’ because Lee is always changing and is prepared to do something different. That is one of his real strengths and Bath are an adaptable team with an immense squad and if something wasn’t working they changed during the game and that is very much a Lee imprint.

Robson has been joined in the Pau squad this season by Pumas captain Julian Montoya who is currently leading his country in the Rugby Championship having moved from Leicester and former Scarlets forward Carwyn Tuipulotu, the cousin of Billy and Mako Vunipola, who will add raw ball-carrying power to a squad. Robson has been impressed with Simmonds’ form since arriving from Exeter and his goal-kicking has been vital for Pau. “Joe has been immense and his defence is outstanding because he gets a lot of big men running at him.

“I haven’t seen a 10 like him in defence putting his body on the line and it’s nice to have that English combination at half-back – it’s great fun.”