LONG READ 'In Shaun we trust': Could Edwards be part of an England masterplan?

Ask yourself the question: what is the most significant event to have happened in English rugby over the summer? Is it tight-head prop Will Stuart’s return to fitness after a ruptured Achilles suffered in December? Or young superstar Henry Pollock recommitting his future to English rugby after signing a new deal at Northampton? Or is it the contract extension, reportedly until 2028, awarded to England men’s head coach Steve Borthwick?

All three cases have merit. The absence of Stuart and his young partner-in-crime Fin Baxter in the front row was one of the main reasons the Red Rose fell apart so dramatically at the Six Nations. Both the starting props, Ellis Genge and Joe Heyes had to play too many minutes without the nous and heft of Stuart and Baxter to replace them off the bench.

The trajectory of Pollock’s contract negotiations at Saints offered a glimpse into one possible future for the game of rugby. The tyro signed up with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Talent Agency, and Hearn is better known for enlisting boxers like Anthony Joshua and Katie Taylor, or MMA champions like Tom Aspinall in the ranks of those he promotes. It signalled Pollock did not identify exclusively as a rugby player, or as one plying his trade in England.

Borthwick’s contract extension showed the RFU are envisaging a staged coaching succession plan, maybe for the first time since Sir Clive Woodward held the reins at two successive World Cups in 1999 and 2003. RFU performance director Conor O’Shea was keen to provide seamless continuity. “You don’t want coaches looking for a job going into a World Cup,” he told BBC Sport this month. “You can’t have a group of coaches going in with that uncertainty, especially when you look at the timing. So, we will give that certainty, and that will give us time to look properly.”

By the end of the Nations Championship this November, Borthwick will have become only the fourth England coach to have overseen more than 50 matches, following in the footsteps of Geoff Cooke, Woodward and the enigmatic Eddie Jones.

But the most intriguing answer to the original question is linked to that process of RFU succession planning. Last week it was announced ex-France, Wales and British and Irish Lions defence coach Shaun Edwards had linked up with John Mitchell and his Red Roses in the women’s game. It is the first time Edwards has worked with his country of birth at international level and it is 20 years too late.

The one and only occasion on which ‘the greatest coach England never had’ was invited to join the men’s set-up was when Andy Robinson offered him an assistant’s role back in 2006. At the time, Edwards was recovering from the traumatic death of his younger brother, and he respectfully declined. Many years later, under Jones, it was Mitchell himself held the defence coach position.

“To be honest, I don’t believe that they have fancied [me] much down the years,” Edwards said back in 2018. “It’s as simple as that. They are entitled to their opinions and if they believe that John Mitchell is a better defence coach than me, then good luck to them.”

Now the two men are working together, and between them they have by far the biggest tranche of international experience anywhere in the English game. Nobody else comes close. Edwards began his international coaching career with Wales in 2008, 18 years ago; Mitchell began as forwards coach with Woodward’s England in 1997.

That in turn raises the possibility of a distinct ‘plan B’ being formulated if things go really badly in November and at next year’s Six Nations. If Borthwick fails catastrophically, it is not too much of a stretch to foresee the Mitchell-Edwards axis being imported from the women’s game to the men’s in extremis.

Even though Warren Gatland’s ex-coaching confederate is only attached to the Red Roses game on a short-term consultancy, the most important fact is Elvis is at long last, in the building. There is no doubt the favourite son of Wigan will make a huge impact on his charges – he always does – and equally, that they are ready to receive it.

There were definite signs in the recent 26-26 draw against Canada that England would benefit enormously from a defensive coach of Edwards’ stature, and also from the type of defence he tutors.

When you look at a backline defence, you start by evaluating the number 13. The centre for the Red Roses is Meg Jones, a very physical defender and an outstanding on-baller who won a total of five turnovers in the last two knockout games of the 2025 World Cup against France [in the semi-final] and Canada [in the final]. Cardiff-born Jones is really a fire-breathing dragon, thinly-masked. She wants to drive and hit rather than sit back and read, and she wants to compete at the tackle after the ball goes to ground. She is a perfect fit for the defence Edwards likes to run.

Whatever the numbers they looked to pack into the wide channels to combat the Canadian attacking strength on the edges, England always looked vulnerable in that area of the field.

After the ball passes beyond Jones [in the rectangle] there are no fewer than four England defenders in the cover around super-dangerous Canadian back Asia Hogan-Rochester, including the blindside wing and the scrum-half in the second layer of defence. It did not work against Canada.

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 20, 2026

With Edwards coaching the D, Jones would be looking to make a hit on the passer in the final phase of play rather than tracking sideways towards touch, and stop Hogan-Rochester getting the ball in the first place.

Edwards makes so much sense as a defence coach for England in the men’s and women’s game. He can sharpen the edge of the women’s defence and turn slide into rush, or he can continue the work which had to be abandoned in the men’s version when Felix Jones unexpectedly jumped ship only seven months into his contract back in August 2024. There are big bonuses wherever you look.

The highlight game on the second weekend of the WXV Global Series featured the current world champions versus six-time winners the Black Ferns. Edwards’ influence was immediately evident, nowhere more so than in the aggressive frontal tackling of Jones herself.

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 27, 2026

The Black Ferns got the kind of game they wanted, and the kind of game their male equivalent would have been earnestly wishing for in the recent series against South Africa. They built a colossal 169 rucks and forced the Red Roses to make over 280 tackles, in a match with 44 minutes of ball-in-play time. The new England defence was up to the task: 12 of 15 Kiwi entries to the home 22 ended in turnovers, with New Zealand posting a meagre 1.3 points per entry. The Red Roses passed the ‘alpha test’ with flying colours.

As Jones observed afterwards: “Shaun doesn’t say many words but you listen when he does. His approach was for us to put as much pressure as possible on the Black Ferns, to make them force their play basically.

“So that’s the aim of the game — try to get in the opposition’s faces, make them play early and that puts us in a better position. I feel like we did that really well.”

Instead of soaking off in the wide channels as they had against Canada, England stepped up – literally and figuratively – into the lanes between passer and receiver.

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 27, 2026

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 27, 2026

On the final play of the game, the Black Ferns have a choice between chancing their collective arms from deep, or taking the draw like Canada the week before. They choose to roll the dice and Zoe Harrison drives up from the backfield to make a game-winning interception as the ball crosses into the 15-5m zone. You could picture a cheeky grin of the Wiganer in the stands with no trouble at all.

High-profile head coaches who are voluntarily offered a contract extension in any sport have a nasty habit of coming a cropper. Nothing in life is certain but death and taxes, and a role in the national set-up may fall into the lap of the man who arguably deserves it the most. England fans all over the country will rise as one, speaking the four little words they have waited to utter for so long: ‘in Shaun we trust’.