‘It’s not about punishing’: Five key issues for English rugby to resolve after the Six Nations
Steve Borthwick will be reprieved by the RFU’s review but there are other factors at play from the makeup of his backroom team to the conveyor belt of talentThe Rugby Football Union’s review into England’s least successful championship for 50 years is already up and running with an alacrity that would impress Louis Bielle-Biarrey.And one detail seems clear: barring something spectacular, Steve Borthwick will still be coaching the team this summer.As one well-placed insider put it: “This review is about supporting Steve to make improvements.If change is needed, change is needed but it’s not about punishing him.He’s absolutely going to be in post this summer, there’s no question about that.
”That said, a wide range of feedback is being sought, including from senior and younger players, to get to the bottom of England’s fifth-placed finish and painful defeats by Scotland, Ireland and Italy.“It’s a proper under the bonnet, lifting-up-the-rocks exploration of what happened after the first game,” says another source.“What happened in those three weeks? Is it cultural, is it environmental, is it selection, is it tactics?” It is widely believed the players demanded a greater say after the Italy game and the improvement in Paris was conspicuous.But as Exeter’s director of rugby, Rob Baxter, emphasises, blaming one or two individuals misses the point.“The reality is that it’s never one thing that’s the problem.
It’s never that one player was missing, say, or the tournament buildup was wrong.Finishing fifth is down to a collection of things that have slowly added up and then multiplied.I think that’s probably where England are.”The outcome of the review won’t be formally announced before mid-April but high up the list of questions is whether – yet again – the blend of England’s assistant coaches needs reassessing.As Sale’s director of rugby, Alex Sanderson, says: “They’ve got quite a wide coaching team, a lot of cooks – not ‘spoil the broth’ but there’s a lot of opinions to take in.
That may be a factor,”A clear disconnect also frequently existed in the Six Nations between the vibrant rugby England insist they want to play and the reality,“In my opinion, post Ireland, it looked like they closed up against Italy,” says Sanderson,“They looked like they went back to a very pragmatic kick-compete style which makes you competitive but also keeps the opposition close,Fewer phases, fewer chances for transition for the opposition, but it also negates your own ambition to attack.
When the shackles came off the week after they seemed so much more competitive.”Hiring Michael Cheika or Ronan O’Gara would transform the mood music but others have an alternative solution.“I would help Steve with a senior figure who can assist him with some of the stuff he’s not very good at,” says another former international.“He needs a team manager who can deal with the media and player-management issues.He needs some help with selection, too.
”Whoever is in charge, England have slipped to sixth in the world rankings and their next game is – ahem – against South Africa in Johannesburg in July.Within the RFU, there is recognition the clock is ticking.“The summer is really important in terms of how the team shows up,” says a senior official.“The World Cup is only 18 months away.”Some key individuals will be returning from injury but recent weeks have further complicated the selection equation, not least at fly-half and at centre.
At Sale, for example, they still believe George Ford deserves another crack.“I think consistency of selection has its part to play,” says Sanderson.“I’d always have George in there.”Others like Simon Halliday, the former England and Bath centre, argue that the midfield trio who featured against France should be retained.“Seb Atkinson looks like he could be the right type of guy and Tommy Freeman produced the best outside-centre performance I’ve seen for ages for Northampton at Bath in December,” says Halliday.
“He ripped them to pieces and looked really good against France,He’s a frightening prospect to defend against,They’ve got to keep him at outside-centre and give him game time,Let these guys settle down,”Look, it’s only a snapshot but England under-18s lost 63-33 to their French counterparts at Chinnor at the weekend.
Last summer the England under-20 side finished sixth at the junior world championships, concluding with a 68-40 defeat by Australia.Which hints at a couple of things: high-scoring games are on the rise and the opposition is improving.France also won this year’s under-20 Six Nations with Ireland second and England third.On the flipside, in 2024 England won the under-20 crown for the first time since 2016 and, from that squad, Henry Pollock and Asher Opoku-Fordjour have graduated to the senior side.“The talent pool is good,” says Baxter.
“There are a number of Premiership sides who are investing more heavily in their academies than they ever have.The best players still come through quite quickly … Manny Feyi-Waboso is a great example.”The Bath head coach, Johann van Graan, agrees.“There’s some very good talent in English rugby,” he says, citing his club’s up-and-coming crop including Kepu Tuipulotu, Vilikesa Sela, Sam Winters, Connor Treacey and Tyler Offiah.“The Prem is an absolute great product with some fantastic players in it.
” Good news but that potential still needs to be maximised to overtake France’s conveyor belt,The end of automatic Prem relegation and promotion and the prospect of an “expansion” league from 2029-2030 has raised further questions around the second-tier Champ, which this week announced a multi-year title sponsor deal with Elior UK,The RFU and the Prem clubs argue that the gap between the two leagues – and after years of calculated RFU underfunding they have a point – is now a chasm,But, Prem Cup aside, how to give youngsters the priceless senior experience that, for example, helped Ollie Chessum and Joe Heyes to climb from Nottingham to the national side?“Younger players getting game time in good environments where teamship and leadership is built is not happening,” says one Champ source,“At the moment the Prem clubs are just keeping them on their books.
That’s not right.” However, negotiations are continuing and Simon Gillham, the Tier 2 board chair, is confident his league can attract increasing investment.“For the Champ clubs it’s a case of head over heart,” says Gillham.“I’m absolutely convinced the Champ will continue to grow.The alternative was to cut ourselves off [from the Prem] and we would be dead.
And the Prem would also be dead.We’ve got to say: ‘How are we building the best thing for English rugby together?’” He also cites the Wrexham case study in football.“I can see that happening in rugby, too.At the moment I’m pretty enthusiastic about the way things are going.But Rome wasn’t built in a day.
”Additional reporting by Luke McLaughlin
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