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1 week ago
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The Rugby Football Union has backed Steve Borthwick with a vote of confidence to continue as England head coach through to the summer but the chief executive, Bill Sweeney, has stopped short of pledging his support through to the 2027 World Cup.
Borthwick is under intense scrutiny after England’s first-ever defeat by Italy on Saturday extended their losing run to three matches following miserable losses to Scotland and Ireland. England are on course for their worst-ever Six Nations campaign and begin their summer Nations Championship fixtures with a daunting trip to South Africa.
After the 23-18 defeat in Rome, Borthwick insisted he believed he was still the man to lead England and expressed belief he had the RFU’s support to see out his contract which runs through to the 2027 World Cup. In an RFU statement, Sweeney said “we remain fully committed to supporting” Borthwick and his coaches, acknowledging England have failed to meet expectations and promising “open” dialogue with the head coach to ascertain why.
He gave his backing to Borthwick to continue as head coach for England’s final Six Nations match against France as well as the summer matches against the Springboks, Fiji and Argentina but 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 over Australia but a poor autumn prompted Sweeney to sack him and install Borthwick, just 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,’” said Sweeney. “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 the expectations and anticipation going into these games. 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.”
