One of their sport’s richest entities? Check. Perplexing form? Bingo. A number of high-profile players struggling to hit the heights of which they are capable? Sounds familiar. Several years without the titles they crave most? Yep. A head coach pleading for patience as he builds a new team?
The comparison is far from one-to-one but the shared similarities between the plights of Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United and Steve Borthwick’s England are evident. If there are ways in which the worlds of international rugby and club football could not be further apart – Amorim has had 19 games in charge in three months; Borthwick 29 fixtures in two years – both head coaches are dealing with an expectant fanbase, boardroom strife above them, and a playing squad perhaps not yet built to their preferred requirements.
