Steve Borthwick will be the toast of every home-grown coach in English rugby’s Premiership when he succeeds Eddie Jones.
So says Rob Baxter, director of rugby at Exeter, one of eight top-flight clubs led by Englishmen.
It is a quarter of a century since the Rugby Football Union last recruited directly from the club ranks, when Clive Woodward was persuaded to leave his part-time role at Bath.
Between then and the Jones era Andy Robinson, Brian Ashton, Rob Andrew and Stuart Lancaster were all promoted from within, whilst Martin Johnson was not coaching at all.
Baxter says he will “definitely” raise a glass if Borthwick, Leicester Tigers head coach, breaks the mould by agreeing to take charge in time for the Six Nations.
“Personally, I think that’s what should be happening,” declared the Devonian. "If it’s Steve, that for me would be fantastic. It would show there’s a genuine pathway within this country.
“I genuinely think people underestimate the challenges of the Premiership when it comes to team management. It’s way harder to manage internationals in the club environment than in the international environment.
“Which is why I’ve always been surprised that you have to have come from an international coaching environment to have the credentials to be able to deal with the difficulties you’re going to get thrown at you."
Baxter, who turned Exeter into English and European champions and coached England’s forwards on tour in 2013, has long been a candidate for the main job.
He ruled himself out of the reckoning today by signing a contract extension at Sandy Park but had no problem championing his Leicester counterpart.
Asked whether the often-intense Borthwick would be able to lift what appears to have become a joyless England set-up, Baxter nodded.
“There is a simple way of looking at this,” he said. “Teams that are successful tend to enjoy what they do.
“Look at what Leicester achieved last season [winning the Prem]. They didn’t look like they weren’t enjoying what they were doing. You wouldn’t have thought that was a joyless experience those guys were having, would you?”
The test of Borthwick, Baxter added, would not be the day to day, rather the “bigger” environment.
He is well capable of redefining England’s playing style, renewing focus on the next game and stopping the churn of backroom staff - all of which fell away under Jones.
His challenge will be dealing with the amplified scrutiny that comes with arguably the biggest job in rugby.
“Here at Exeter if I make a selection it might get ripped to pieces by 10,000 people,” said Baxter. “Whereas a selection for England might get ripped apart by a million people.
“That’s the challenge, isn’t it? Dealing with the spotlight that gets put on pretty much everything you say, the interviews you do and the selections you make.”
