The Rugby Football Union has backed Steve Borthwick to continue as England head coach into the summer and arrest their drastic decline but the chief executive, Bill Sweeney, stopped short of pledging his support through to the World Cup next year.
Borthwick is under intense scrutiny after England’s first defeat by Italy on Saturday extended their losing run to three matches following miserable losses against Scotland and Ireland. Austin Healey is among the former players calling for Borthwick to be sacked with England on course for their worst Six Nations campaign, and Ben Youngs, the most-capped men’s player, believes that the side is “set up to just not lose”.
England finish their Six Nations campaign against France in Paris on Saturday before they begin their Nations Championship fixtures in July with a daunting trip to South Africa.
After the 23-18 defeat in Rome, Borthwick said he was still the man to lead England and expressed belief he had the RFU’s support. His contract runs through to the 2027 World Cup and publicly he has the players’ backing with the captain, Maro Itoje, pointing to the 12-match winning run that was ended by Scotland last month.
In an RFU statement, Sweeney attempted to douse the flames and said “we remain fully committed to supporting” Borthwick and his coaches for the summer Nations Championship but acknowledged England have failed to meet expectations.
Sweeney also promised “open” dialogue to bring about a reversal of fortunes and ascertain why results and performances have nosedived, but he gave his support for Borthwick to continue for England’s final Six Nations match against France as well as the summer games against the Springboks, Fiji and Argentina. But he made no mention of the World Cup in 18 months’ time. In 2022, after a disappointing Six Nations campaign, Eddie Jones survived the summer after a series win against Australia but a poor autumn prompted Sweeney to sack him and install Borthwick, only nine months before the 2023 World Cup.
“After a 12-match winning run, these past three results have been hugely disappointing, and we feel that just as much as everyone else,” Sweeney said. “Steve and his coaching team are working tirelessly to make improvements, and we remain fully committed to supporting them and the players as they face France this weekend and then look ahead to the Nations Championship.
“Part of that support is being open about what hasn’t gone right during this Six Nations and making sure everyone has a clear sense of how we move through those challenges together. That’s something we’ll be talking through and working on in the days and weeks ahead.
“We will work together to understand and rectify why we have been unable to meet expectations. England fans rightly expect a team that learns and grows through adversity, and we’re confident this group will do everything they can to deliver that.”
Healey, however, believes that regime change is needed. Speaking as a pundit for TNT Sports, he said: “The stats aren’t good for Steve Borthwick, the amount of support he’s had is top‑notch. I think it’s time for a change. I think it’s time for Steve to go, because I watched that side and there doesn’t seem to be trust between the players and the coaching staff. There doesn’t seem to be a style of play that you can hang your hat on. They don’t go out and attack; there’s no pace. I want to win every game for England, and playing like that is unacceptable.”
Itoje, meanwhile, has leapt to the defence of the beleaguered head coach, insisting the players must take responsibility for England’s rapid decline. The captain, whose 63rd-minute yellow card was England’s eighth of the championship so far and reduced them to 13 men with Sam Underhill already in the sin-bin, lamented his side’s discipline but insisted Borthwick was the man to take England forward.
Itoje said: “Steve is definitely the right guy for the job. He’s a fantastic coach. He’s led us to 12 wins, big performances against the All Blacks, big wins. So obviously, it’s not where we want to be at the moment, there’s no hiding away from that. We have to take responsibility for where we are. But Steve is definitely the right guy, and the rest of the coaches are, they’ve been fantastic. It’s on us as players to be better.
“We as players have to own it. We’re the ones on the pitch. We’re the ones doing what we’re doing on the pitch. So I think it’s our responsibility to make sure that we apply Steve’s vision, we apply Steve’s game plan, because he’s been very clear. He’s been very thorough, as he always is.
“We need to be better. We’re the ones on the field. He can’t play the game for us. Myself as captain and the rest of the senior guys, I think we take responsibility. The answers are within that group. The answers are within the players, within the coaches. So as a group of senior players, we need to be better.”
