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Steve Borthwick's revised England role leaves fans confused
Eddie Jones has announced his new-look coaching team ahead of the Six Nations, but it is a returning face that is raising some questions.
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The Australian has opted to retain John Mitchell as defence coach after their impressive World Cup, while England sevens coach Simon Amor replaces Scott Wisemantel as attack coach after he joined the Wallabies.
Elsewhere, Steve Borthwick has moved from his role as forwards coach to become a skills coach, making way for Matt Proudfoot.
The former Scotland international is fresh from guiding the Springboks to World Cup glory as forwards coach, orchestrating the demolition of England’s pack in the final.
This is a major coup and Jones will be hoping that he will be able to help England’s pack become as dominant as South Africa’s.
(Continue reading below…)
It is Borthwick’s new position, though, that is raising some questions as there had been months of speculation following the RWC regarding his future.
Many expected the former England captain to team up with the struggling Leicester Tigers as forwards coach in the hope of turning their season around.
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https://twitter.com/A_Cops2/status/1216714036345217024?s=20
Isnt it best if Borthwick just leaves now? I'm biased as a Tigers fan but surely he's just getting in the way if he stick around.
— Andy Smith (@busypedro22) January 13, 2020
So the RFU aren't using him as a forwards coach, but equally not letting him go. pic.twitter.com/ouTMMlqHyV
— Richard Burnett (@RBurnett348) January 13, 2020
While it is still expected he will join the Tigers after the Six Nations, some people are wondering why he does not move now as he is no longer England’s forwards coach.
However, after such a long time under Jones, having worked alongside him with Japan, keeping Borthwick in the coaching team may allow a smoother transition under Proudfoot.
Nonetheless, it still seems to be a perplexing position for someone that is in demand elsewhere.
Steve Borthwick to skills coach?
— Armchair Voltaire (@HughMunculus) January 13, 2020
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Eddie – can we have Steve Borthwick up at Oval Park now on a part-time basis, please?
— Simon (@AncientKeeper) January 13, 2020
Proudfoot has spoken very highly of the England team since joining and he is inheriting a formidable pack as well.
While the Springboks were able to maul Jones’ men in the RWC final, few teams in world rugby can match the power and dynamism of the group Proudfoot is now training.
It’s under three weeks until the Six Nations starts, with England travelling to the Stade de France on February 2 to take on a new French coaching team that are at the beginning of a new era under Fabien Gathie.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Southern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
5 Go to commentsReally poorly written rambling piece ..
2 Go to commentsIt was so boring
2 Go to commentspersonally I’d go with : 1. France 2. NZ 3. England 4. Ireland 5. Scotland
27 Go to commentsAndy everything becomes easier with experience therefor counting etc straight after a match becomes easier when you have 100+ caps vs 17 which is the experience you speak from.
160 Go to commentsGetting rid of the Dupont Law is a good thing and ought to have been done months ago! Officially getting rid of the croc roll is a good thing. The law about no scrums from a short arm is well intended in terms of speeding the game up but it’s an overreaction to a clever yet calculated gamble that could have blow up in South Africa’s face if they conceded a penalty from the scrum that was set after Willemse took claimed the mark in the World Cup QF.
53 Go to commentsRassie The GOAT
10 Go to commentsOf their 5 big matches in RWC Scotland and NZ were the easiest. They took a 12-3 lead against NZ and after the red decided it was best to hold the lead and take chances that came. None came and it was tight but they dug a lot deeper in the other two knock out matches. They had trounced NZ in Twickenham in a fixture that NZ must now regret. Psychology was clearly with SA in the final as a result.
27 Go to commentsMy favourite line/exchanges from Chasing the Sun 2. News headline: “SA. The last hurdle in ABs World Cup glory”. Something like that. “You’re all just a hurdle. A hop, skip and a jump”. Coming from Rassie and Jacque. Basically - nobody thinks you’re going to win. You’re just a pushover team. Nobody respects you. When the camera shows the players faces, you can see the effect. You can see the rev meters (die moer metertjies) firing up. Mitchell said he felt it prior to the 19 final. He said to Eddie watching the teams warming up that it was going to be a tough day at the office. Wave a red flag in front of South African, and you can expect a reaction. This is not unique - many teams rev themselves. And Bok teams in particular. With horrific consequences (discipline, poor thinking under pressure) because that’s the drawback to using emotion right? But what this Bok team does better than many since 2007 is channel the emotion and stay on task. Despite the emotion. Why, because while Rassie might play mind games - he talks about creating a safe environment. Listen to his recent honorary doctorate acceptance speech. While he uses psychology he creates psychological safety. He’s a damn fine coach. Can’t wait for Pretoria. It’s going to be a hummer.
10 Go to commentsWhat Rassie does for SA is big. It has helped people to unite and see we can win with the right people in place.
10 Go to commentsTerrible conditions for young players to express themselves just enjoy it guys. As a saffa great to see Ausie youth looking good. Wow SA have some great talent also.
2 Go to commentsYes, another example of French tv directors ensuring that incidents like this are swiftly glossed over for the benefit of their teams…
5 Go to commentsThe prospect of the club match ups across hemispheres is surely appetising for everyone. The reality however, may prove to be slightly different. There are currently two significant driving forces that have delivered to same teams consistently to the latter champions cup stages for years now. The first of those is the yawning gap in finances, albeit delivered by different routes. In France it’s wealthy private owners operating with a higher salary cap by some distance compared to England. In Ireland it’s led by a combination of state tax relief support, private Leinster academy funding and IRFU control - the provincial budgets are not equal! This picture is not going to change anytime soon. The second factor is the EPCR competition rules. You don’t need a PhD. in advanced statistical analysis from oxbridge to see the massive advantage bestowed upon the home team through every ko round of the tournament. The SA teams will gain the opportunity for home ko ties in due course but that could actually polarise the issue even further, just look at their difficulties playing these ties in Europe and then reverse them for the opposition travelling to SA. Other than that, the picture here is unlikely to change either, with heavyweight vested interests controlling the agenda. So what does all this point to for the club world championship? Well the financial differential between the nh and sh teams is pretty clear. And the travel issues and sporting challenge for away teams are significantly exacerbated beyond those already seen in the EPCR tournaments. So while the prospect of those match ups may whet our rugby appetites, I’m very much still to be convinced the reality will live up to expectations…
2 Go to commentsThe manipulative and cynical Erasmus….
10 Go to commentsWe see you World Rugby….we see you🤡😏
53 Go to commentsBoks are lucky to have a player of the calibre of PSDT in their ranks😍
7 Go to commentsI really like what the boks have done with bringing Vermeulen into their coaching setup. Perhaps they would have gone to france anyway, but Lawes and Farrell could at least have been offered assistant coaching roles. Lawes could probably aptly fill the brief (breakdown, contact skills, and handling) just given to Strawbridge; and Farrell could be a pretty good like for like replacement for Sinfield when he leaves. I probably wouldn’t want them in the national team set up just yet, but it would be good to see strings pulled to either get May, Youngs, Cole, & Care player-coaching roles in the premiership, or to move them into the under 20s coaching staff.
3 Go to commentsSo spiteful that the Springboks won again, they just had to change the laws so that they would stand a chance.
53 Go to commentsWhy would Eben lie? The guy has achieved so much. He saw it as arrogance. Any normal person who plays against the ABs year in and year out would have the same thoughts. Why even talk about the final when you have the biggest game of your lives next week in a stage you have never gotten passed? Rugly is simple in SA. Have fun but the most important thing is respect. I’m not buying any of this misinterpreted nonsense. Eben isn’t English, but no one during that interview was asking what did he say? He's speaking and therefore his understanding is perfectly fine. It was an arrogant thing to say, esp for a team that has never been to a final, never mind a semi. You guys up north can interpret it in a different way if you wish, maybe that s why you don’t win the biggest tournaments.
160 Go to comments