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You wouldn’t have expected a figure as cagey as Steve Borthwick to respond directly to Danny Care’s allegations about the toxic culture that surrounded the Eddie Jones era of English rugby, but the Australian’s successor most certainly has a perspective that deserves to be heard. Borthwick, of course, was a key lieutenant and assistant coach to Jones in the period that Care describes as “like living in a dictatorship, under a despot who made people disappear.”
Retired scrumhalf’s comments come from his upcoming memoir Everything happens for a reasonwith serialized snippets in Time. There is little information included that hasn’t been whispered, rumored or insinuated officially or unofficially in the past, but it shows in great detail how even one of England’s most experienced players felt intimidated by a character he compares to a school bully.
Among the allegations made by Care were that Jones had no time for feedback from players, governing in an autocratic manner. The best coaches are clear that the world of sport has changed and that a collaborative approach is better; Although Borthwick did not wish to reflect on his time under Jones, he at least recognized the importance of being controlled and challenged.
“I’m not going to talk about anyone else’s experience and what they found,” Borthwick said after naming an unchanged starting team to face Australia on Saturday. “My focus right now is on the environment and culture we are building with this team. I’m done with England [as an assistant] very early in 2020 and now we are here in 2024. My focus and attention is now on this team and the environment that I want to create.
“One thing we have with this is making sure that we’re building a process where players are driving the elements of the game. In this campaign, in this series, we’ve taken a notable step forward in terms of players who express themselves during team meetings and share their opinions. I think it’s a sign of the growth of this team, a really positive step for the growth of this team.
“We often have ideas and discuss them. It’s almost daily that I talk to players and bounce ideas around, and then things are shaped, adapted and improved. It’s the players on the field who know the game better than anyone. The best players are the best coaches and fortunately we have some great minds in this group.
Borthwick clearly attempted to create a very different environment to that of the man he succeeded. Stability and continuity have been prioritized, from establishing a regular overseas training base in Girona to keeping squad and squad changes to a minimum. That shows in the squad for Saturday’s encounter against the Wallabies – even after a defeat, a relatively insignificant number change between Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence, who will continue to swap positions in attack and line up with Slade at 13 years in defense, is as dramatic as it is born from a desire for continuity.
Borthwick’s inclusion of Luke Cowan-Dickie, as suggested in The Independent on Monday, as the bench hooker is partly an attempt to remedy their final-quarter scrum woes, but there’s not much else to choose from. Gone are the days of an autumn when the selection raffle seemed to take place before each meeting.
Talk to the England team now and you’ll feel a sense of contentment, even in the middle of a lean race. Borthwick’s side have produced good or encouraging performances in each of their last six games and have come away with wins in just two of them, piling on the pressure against an Australian side they should beat.
Borthwick gave his forwards an extra half hour in bed on Monday morning, recognizing the rigors of a tough test against New Zealand. He has always emphasized the need for his players to relax and enjoy their time off the field to ensure they reach their full emotional and physical potential in the right way while on it. To this end, a table tennis table and other recreational features have been installed in the new ‘flexible multi-purpose space’ now installed next to their training ground at Pennyhill Park.
“I feel like Steve has a really good understanding of [importance of] time out, then bring you back into training,” flanker Tom Curry, who wins his 55th cap after debuting in 2017 under Jones, explained. “We did sleep yoga the other day, and there are lots of different things to do to activate it, so when we do it, we do it correctly. I really enjoyed that.
“I can only give my opinion. Personally, I was fine [under Jones]. I had a lot of respect for Eddie. He brought me in when I was 18. He worked me hard but I always understood where he was coming from and thought he was trying to get the best out of me.
“Steve was brilliant in terms of understanding what I needed. We had some good discussions where he asked, “Do you really need to do this?” and I’m a little bit maybe… and he says ‘no, go rest and recover properly’. I think we are very open. Being more mature and understanding my management was a big step forward.
“One of the skills [of coaching] Additionally, not everyone needs the same thing. For me, I like to be pushed and led; for someone else, it might be putting an arm around him. We have very good coaches – Wiggy [Richard Wigglesworth]Joe [El-Abd]obviously Steve…
“Kevin Sinfield is brilliant on the other side, able to chat with someone. Kev has been incredible, especially for my brother, he has always been there for him. This side is much more important now, in the modern game, one hundred percent. I think there’s more pressure, but in terms of the environment here, it fits perfectly.
The England team will face Australia at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham (Saturday 9 November, 3:10 p.m. GMT)
Starting XV: 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George (captain), 3 Will Stuart; 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Martin; 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl; 9 Ben Spencer, 10 Marcus Smith; 11 Tommy Freeman, 12 Henry Slade, 13 Henry Slade, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso; 15 George Furbank.
Substitutes: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Alex Dombrandt; 21 Harry Randall, 22 George Ford, 23 Ollie Sleightholme.
