Le Crunch or Le Sack? 11 potential candidates to replace Steve Borthwick

The RFU might have circled the wagon around beleaguered boss Steve Borthwick, but it seems as if he is only living on borrowed time after Saturday evening’s embarrassing defeat to Italy in Rome.

Predictably, within minutes of the final whistle in the Stadio Olimpico, press releases from bookies started to drop into journalists’ inboxes and here are who we think are the runners and riders.

Scott Robertson
Razor lost a dressing room power battle with some of the All Blacks bigget stars following an internal review into summer defeats to Argentina and South Africa. His availability to take the England job would depend on the terms of his settlement. Unlike England, when they released Eddie Jones, he immediately got a job with Australia because the clause stopping him from taking a job with another Tier One nation wasn’t included.

Ronan O’Gara
The former Lion is supposed to be under contract to La Rochelle until the end of next season but there have been whispers about his future all season. He is the favourite to land the Ireland job if Andy Farrell decides to move on when his contract runs out after the World Cup. And after Graham Rowntree left his job as Munster head coach, he said he hoped his next rugby was in charge of an international side.

Andy Farrell
Without a doubt, Farrell, who led the Lions to success in Australia, would be a popular choice among the fans and is out of contract after the World Cup next year, which is the problem. Despite being set for talks with the IRFU after talk of a £1 million offer to return to Saracens, he is extremely unlikely to leave with the World Cup being so close.

Rob Baxter
It was always assumed he would spend his entire career in Devon, but he was willing to speak with the RFU when they were looking for Eddie Jones’ successor four years ago. He has just started to rebuild the Chiefs, but if Twickenham’s top brass wanted an Englishman to succeed Steve Borthwick, he would have to be in the conversation.

Phil Dowson
The Northampton Saints have done a brilliant job taking the club to the back of the club game, and he is known to have ambitions of coaching England one day. Insiders say his last one contained an International release clause, and it should be assumed his new one does as well. Sorry, Saints fan, but he would be among the front-runners.

Shaun Edwards
One of the RFU’s biggest mistakes in the last 20 years was not snapping him up before he went to Wales. They have let him slip their fingers a couple more times. A born winner, he deserves a crack at a top job, but could be problematic getting one of the greatest defence coaches out of his deal with France.

Johann Van Graan
He has done what many other coaches failed to do by turning Bath into a trophy-winning machine. He has been earmarked to take over as Springboks boss when Rassie Erasmus eventually decides to call it a day, so he may decide to keep his powder dry for then rather than risk everything by taking the England job.

Jamie Joseph
He fell just short of getting the All Blacks’ top job to Dave Rennie, but after getting into the final two, would probably fancy a crack at the England job, but would be a rank outsider.

Michael Cheika
Someone who certainly has the pedigree to do the job, but is working in the NRL this season, where he is already being tipped for a top job, so it could be a year too late.

John Mitchell
Would be a left-field choice, but he is already employed by the RFU after taking the Red Roses to World Cup glory, and if they wanted to avoid paying any compensation, he has worked in the senior men’s coaching team in the past.

Jake White
A former Rugby World Cup winner with the Springboks, White definitely has the experience to do the job and is looking to get back into coach after being interviewed for the Treviso job.