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The new-season 'promise' Freddie Burns has made to Steve Borthwick

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Steve Borthwick was in his element on Thursday, returning to Twickenham 75 days after his significant transformation of fallen giants Leicester came down to one final kick from Freddie Burns. England Rugby HQ was lit up by that epic late June 18 drama, the sight of the replacement out-half shunting over the lead-taking drop goal with seconds remaining and then exploding even more jubilantly when the final whistle signalled that Saracens were beaten and Tigers were Gallagher Premiership champions.

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Ten-and-a-half weeks later, Twickenham was a heck of a lot quieter when Leicester boss Borthwick returned to the scene of his greatest triumph as a head coach. Quieter, too, he hoped was his match-winner Burns who has understandably milked the limelight in the wake of his result-defining intervention.

Asked to reflect on last season’s return to glory by Leicester, the tongue-in-cheek Borthwick quipped: “Freddie has promised me that he isn’t going to do any more podcasts or tweets and Instagram.”

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In all seriousness, though, winning meant so much to the club. “We had a group of young men that came together and faced adversity on and off the field last season and learned a lot and taking those lessons forward is going to be really important.

“For many of the guys competing against the top teams in the league was the first time for some of them, for some it was the first time in a very long time to compete with the top teams in the league. This is such a tough competition but the players are energised by that. They want to compete with teams, they want to get better and coaching them is really exciting.”

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Borthwick was speaking at the official launch of the 2022/23 Premiership, sharing the stage with his Harlequins and Newcastle counterparts. All three were asked what excites them most about the new campaign ahead and each gave their take on why they feel the league in England is the world’s best.

The Leicester coach was first to answer. “What excites me the most is across the league we have got some fantastic young players and we saw that with them representing their countries in the summer and we have got some top-class players coming into the league so I am looking forward to seeing that mix of young talent mixed with some global superstars on the field competing against each other. Anybody would be excited by that.”

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Next was Quins boss Tabai Matson. “That [what Borthwick said] was my answer,” he began. “There are some exciting young guys coming through, but the derbies is something I really enjoyed coming in last year. They were beautiful to watch.

“They lifted the game to another level and that is what the fans want to see so I am looking forward to seeing some really good derbies this year as well. The rivalries often make players excel, they try and take the game to another level and long may that continue with the league being competitive and brutal.”

Last but not least was Dave Walder, the new boss at the Falcons. “I really enjoy watching the way different styles come up against each other and the different ways to win games of rugby.

“From a coaching point of view, it is really interesting to put yourself in opposition coaches’ shoes and think do you change what you do or do you carry on down certain paths? I just love watching the contrasting styles and how it produces the spectacle is brilliant.”

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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