Steve Borthwick is a genius who can “crack the code to rugby” according to the England wing Jonny May, who compared his head coach to the mathematician Alan Turing. Often described as the “father of computer science”, Turing broke the Nazi Enigma code during the second world war. May’s praise does not stop there, drawing parallels between Borthwick and Star Trek’s Spock.
If those are colourful compliments to pay a head coach, they demonstrate the esteem in which May holds Borthwick and, in turn, how he feels about the future of the national side after their improbable run to the last four of the World Cup in France.
