Steve Borthwick will be reprieved by the RFU’s review but there are other factors at play from the makeup of his backroom team to the conveyor belt of talent
The Rugby Football Union’s review into England’s least successful championship for 50 years is already up and running with an alacrity that would impress Louis Bielle-Biarrey. And one detail seems clear: barring something spectacular, Steve Borthwick will still be coaching the team this summer. As one well-placed insider put it: “This review is about supporting Steve to make improvements. If change is needed, change is needed but it’s not about punishing him. He’s absolutely going to be in post this summer, there’s no question about that.”
That said, a wide range of feedback is being sought, including from senior and younger players, to get to the bottom of England’s fifth-placed finish and painful defeats by Scotland, Ireland and Italy. “It’s a proper under the bonnet, lifting-up-the-rocks exploration of what happened after the first game,” says another source. “What happened in those three weeks? Is it cultural, is it environmental, is it selection, is it tactics?” It is widely believed the players demanded a greater say after the Italy game and the improvement in Paris was conspicuous. But as Exeter’s director of rugby, Rob Baxter, emphasises, blaming one or two individuals misses the point. “The reality is that it’s never one thing that’s the problem. It’s never that one player was missing, say, or the tournament buildup was wrong. Finishing fifth is down to a collection of things that have slowly added up and then multiplied. I think that’s probably where England are.”
