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#Post#: 153806--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU 6 Nations Review uncovers multiple issues
DIR By: RodneyRegis
Date: May 5, 2026, 5:00 pm
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Woodward taking the excuse to drone on about selecting overseas
players again I see.
#Post#: 153807--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU 6 Nations Review uncovers multiple issues
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: May 5, 2026, 6:21 pm
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--- Quote from: RodneyRegis link ---
>
> Woodward taking the excuse to drone on about selecting
overseas players again I see.
>
--- End Quote ---
In fairness (!) to the old bore, I think he's suggesting that if
we're going to ignore overseas England players, central
contracts should mean players are guaranteed starts for their
clubs or something. It's a different stupid point to the normal
one.
#Post#: 153809--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU 6 Nations Review uncovers multiple issues
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: May 6, 2026, 2:09 am
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Did you know that a really good synonym for "Full Review" is
"A-rse Covering".
#Post#: 153813--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU 6 Nations Review uncovers multiple issues
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: May 6, 2026, 3:23 am
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Daniel Schofield
Lack of alternatives is major factor in saving Steve Borthwick
RFU backs head coach to lead England at World Cup after review
into worst-ever Six Nations campaign
Published 05 May 2026 3:53pm BST
Steve Borthwick has been England head coach since replacing
Eddie Jones nearly four years ago
Many things were conspicuous by their absence in the Rugby
Football Union’s Six Nations review. That it was England’s
worst-ever Six Nations was not mentioned. Neither are a host of
unwanted records for discipline and defence, nor a reference to
a first defeat by Italy.
Yet the biggest elephant in the room of the RFU’s anonymous
experts is that head coach Steve Borthwick’s short-term future
was partially assured by the lack of an obvious successor.
Now two things can be true at once. On the one hand, the RFU’s
chief executive Bill Sweeney is sincere in his belief that
Borthwick is the right man to lead England through to the World
Cup. The RFU acknowledge it was wrong to suggest, as was
initially the case after that defeat in Rome, that his future
would rest on the results of this summer’s Nations Championship
which involves a brutal 25,000-mile travel schedule and when
several leading players are likely to be rested. Putting a gun
to the heads of the coaching team that they needed to win in
South Africa or Argentina this summer was not going to be
conducive to a healthy environment.
They also point out that Borthwick is still a relatively young
head coach and his coaching team is equally green with Richard
Wigglesworth and Lee Blackett completing their first Six Nations
campaigns as defence and attack coaches respectively. They need
support rather than savaging. In a binary choice of backing or
sacking, they have chosen the former.
Now comes the rugby realpolitik. If the RFU had resolved to sack
Borthwick, it would need a successor lined up and ready to take
the helm 16 months out from the World Cup. When the RFU finally
lost patience with Eddie Jones in 2022, it could only pull the
trigger because Borthwick was waiting in the wings at Leicester
Tigers. Even then he was reluctant to take over with such a
short runway to the 2023 World Cup. This time around no such
stand-out candidate is currently available.
I write “currently” because Ireland head coach Andy Farrell
would be the best-qualified candidate to succeed Borthwick but
he is under lock and key with the Irish Rugby Union until the
conclusion of the 2027 World Cup. If Farrell is the RFU’s plan
A, which Sweeney hinted might be the case when he said in March
“we’re not in a discussion with him at the present”, then you
are boxed into a corner in finding a short-term replacement who
has international experience, a key prerequisite.
Andy Farrell
Andy Farrell would be the best-qualified candidate to succeed
Borthwick
This would rule out club coaches such as Ronan O’Gara or Phil
Dowson. Scott Robertson, the recently defenestrated All Blacks
head coach, is believed to have a gardening leave clause that
would preclude him from joining an international team until at
least the autumn.
Then you are counting on the fingers of one hand. Perhaps the
candidates who tick the most boxes are Michael Cheika, Warren
Gatland and John Mitchell. Cheika, the former Australia and
Argentina head coach, had a short but successful stint with
Leicester but has recently returned Down Under to work in rugby
league after a long period abroad. Gatland also indicated that
he would like to spend more time in his native New Zealand
concentrating on consultancy roles after an underwhelming second
spell with Wales.
Then there is Mitchell, who guided the Red Roses to the World
Cup victory last year. While he would at least save the RFU the
trouble of creating a new pay slip, the optics of the men’s team
stealing the women’s team coach would set off a volcanic
reaction that would make Pompeii seem like a papal announcement.
All three would know their value and their corresponding
leverage. Would Cheika or Mitchell really accept an 18-month
contract to keep the seat warm for Farrell? There is also a
fairly significant cost implication, especially if they were to
demand their own team of assistants.
As I wrote recently, rugby is different to football in terms of
a sacking culture. Chelsea can afford to dispose of a manager
the moment results dip and figure out what to do next later. In
international rugby, the pool of coaches is much thinner and
tied far more closely to World Cup cycles. Their room for
manoeuvre is slim.
Of course, the RFU will publicly deny that it has held talks
with any potential successor and it is fully behind Borthwick as
its statement suggests. Yet there is a difference between
holding formal talks and using back channels to sound out who
may or may not be interested. The whole time Borthwick has been
in charge, the grandly named Project Everest is whirring away.
Run by the RFU’s team performance director Nigel Redman,
succession planning is always taking place in the background.
“You’d have that regardless of how we’d perform in the Six
Nations,” Sweeney said in March. “You’ve got to have that in
place, not just in terms of the head coach, but we’ve got a
succession plan for every senior exec in the RFU, including
myself.”
This is a fairly pertinent point. For all the commercial
achievements of the RFU and the success of the women’s game,
England’s men’s team has largely underachieved since Sweeney was
appointed chief executive in 2019. For better or worse,
Sweeney’s fate will now be attached to Borthwick’s over the next
18 months.
Steve Borthwick will lead England at the 2027 World Cup
following a Rugby Football Union review into their worst-ever
Six Nations campaign.
Bill Sweeney, chief executive of English rugby’s governing body,
reiterated his mid-championship comments that Borthwick had his
support heading into the Nations Championship. He has now
extended that to include “the series of matches leading into
Rugby World Cup 2027”.
The decision not to judge Borthwick’s future on the basis of
England’s results in their three Nations Championship matches
against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina in July, is also
understood to have been influenced by the fact that England may
choose to rest some of their senior British and Irish Lions
players, including captain Maro Itoje and former captain Jamie
George, with a view towards managing their workloads ahead of
next year’s World Cup.
It would be extraordinary for the RFU to dismiss its head coach
during the warm-up period for rugby’s blue-riband event.
Telegraph Sport understands that, internally, the consensus is
that Borthwick, who succeeded Eddie Jones as England’s coach at
the end of 2022, will remain in post for next year’s World Cup
in Australia.
Borthwick has just returned from a recce in Australia ahead of
the 2027 tournament and it is understood that no changes to his
assistant coaching team are anticipated.
Sweeney was the executive who sacked Jones and hired Borthwick
so, if he were to dispose of the incumbent head coach his
position would once again come under extreme scrutiny.
England's Henry Pollock appears dejected following the Guinness
Men's Six Nations match at the Stade de France in Paris, France.
England lost four of their five 2026 Six Nations games despite
strong form heading into the tournament
Telegraph Sport understands, too, the review’s direction was
influenced by input from Borthwick’s backroom team, who all
defended their head coach while taking responsibility for
failings in their individual areas. England conceded 151 points
in the Six Nations, their worst tally in the championship, under
defence coach Richard Wigglesworth, while Lee Blackett’s attack
failed to fire until the final match against France. Input from
Phil Morrow, England’s head of performance, is thought to be
especially persuasive in reducing the pressure on Borthwick. The
players are also thought to have been instrumental in defending
their head coach.
“Four or five weeks cannot be allowed to derail the process,” an
RFU source said. “We know the talent of both the players and the
coaching team; the worst thing to do would be to overreact.”
England won just one match in the 2026 Six Nations, which
included a historic first loss to Italy, but the RFU’s “detailed
and robust” review concluded that, “despite coming off a
12‑game winning run, the underperformance was not the
result of a singular failure or issue”.
Instead, the RFU, with the support of external independent
contributors, identified “a number of interconnected performance
areas, such as discipline, execution of opportunities and making
the most of key moments” which contributed to England’s failures
in the championship. The review featured one-to-one
conversations with players, coaches and backroom staff which,
according to an RFU statement, “enabled open, constructive and,
at times, challenging discussions”.
The RFU’s statement deliberately lacks detail. The governing
body said that “performance confidentiality in a competitive
international sporting environment limits the level of detail
that can be shared publicly – particularly around game strategy
and execution”. Those in the corridors of power at the Allianz
Stadium believe releasing the review’s minutiae would betray the
confidence of future contributors.
England's head coach Steve Borthwick leads the warm up session
during the Guinness Six Nations 2025 match between England and
Scotland at Allianz Stadium on February 22, 2025 in London,
England
Borthwick has been backed by the RFU
“We recognise why supporters felt frustrated and that they
expected more,” the statement added. “That disappointment was
shared internally, and it underpinned the seriousness with which
everyone engaged in this process.
“England head coach Steve Borthwick has engaged in the review
with honesty and rigour, and he and his coaching team are
already addressing issues identified.”
Sweeney highlighted England’s performance in the narrow defeat
by France in the final round of the Six Nations as evidence of
progress and a team heading in the right direction.
“We’ve all seen what this England side is capable of – most
recently in the performance against France, and during the
strong winning run before that,” the RFU chief executive said.
“That doesn’t disappear overnight. This is a young England team
that is still growing and developing, and we understand progress
in international sport is rarely linear.
“Steve has engaged in this process with full openness and has
clear plans in place to address these findings. We are all
behind him and his coaching team going into the Nations
Championship and the series of matches leading into Rugby World
Cup 2027.”
England open their inaugural Nations Championship campaign with
a daunting trip to face the world champions in South Africa.
Borthwick’s side then take on Fiji at Everton’s Hill Dickinson
Stadium before travelling to Argentina to play Los Pumas.
#Post#: 153814--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU 6 Nations Review uncovers multiple issues
DIR By: Portquin
Date: May 6, 2026, 4:22 am
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I wonder if Quins will benefit from the coaching merry go round
after the 2027 WC. Maybe SB gets the chop and so does his team
of coaches. Gilmore is ejected and we hire Lee Blackett as Head
coach. Maybe I'm giving the Quins board too much credit for
having a secret plan (that does not involve 3 years).
#Post#: 153815--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU 6 Nations Review uncovers multiple issues
DIR By: Rugbycat
Date: May 6, 2026, 5:13 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Portquin link ---
>
> I wonder if Quins will benefit from the coaching merry go
round after the 2027 WC. Maybe SB gets the chop and so does his
team of coaches. Gilmore is ejected and we hire Lee Blackett as
Head coach. Maybe I'm giving the Quins board too much credit for
having a secret plan (that does not involve 3 years).
>
--- End Quote ---
We would hire SB and RW, after a world wide search of the
carpark.
#Post#: 153818--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU 6 Nations Review uncovers multiple issues
DIR By: RodneyRegis
Date: May 6, 2026, 6:45 am
---------------------------------------------------------
"Telegraph Sport understands, too, the review’s direction was
influenced by input from Borthwick’s backroom team"
:D :D
#Post#: 153822--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU 6 Nations Review uncovers multiple issues
DIR By: Camquin
Date: May 6, 2026, 9:05 am
---------------------------------------------------------
At what point do you stop being a "relatively young coach".
And if you are callow, surely it behooves you to hire at least
one experienced member of the team, rather than a complete set
of greenhorns.
#Post#: 153823--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU 6 Nations Review uncovers multiple issues
DIR By: FrostAndFire
Date: May 6, 2026, 9:14 am
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Borthwick and his team have come up with exactly two successful
tactics in their time in charge:
1. Get George Ford to kick drop goals all the time.
2. Box kicks to compete and win back after the change in laws
making that easier.
Unfortunately, other teams caught up quickly and now number 2 is
ineffective, and 1 isn't going to work now that teams know it's
the tactic.
They can talk about the run of 12 wins all they like, but most
of them were against weaker opponents. The only really
impressive one was against the ABs, and the ABs had also lost to
Argentina recently.
#Post#: 153830--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU 6 Nations Review uncovers multiple issues
DIR By: Yareet
Date: May 6, 2026, 11:17 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: FrostAndFire link ---
>
> Borthwick and his team have come up with exactly two
successful tactics in their time in charge:
>
> 1. Get George Ford to kick drop goals all the time.
>
> 2. Box kicks to compete and win back after the change in laws
making that easier.
>
> Unfortunately, other teams caught up quickly and now number 2
is ineffective, and 1 isn't going to work now that teams know
it's the tactic.
>
> They can talk about the run of 12 wins all they like, but most
of them were against weaker opponents. The only really
impressive one was against the ABs, and the ABs had also lost to
Argentina recently.
>
--- End Quote ---
Weaker than us or weaker generally?
According to this Wiki page,
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_England_national_rugby_union_team_results_2020%E2%80%932029
England were 7th in the rankings at the start of the run.
Beating France (4th) took them to 6th and winning in Buenos
Aires meant they replaced Argentina in 5th. By the time of the
NZ (2nd) game, England were 4th.
Which is a long-winded way of saying they beat three teams who
were higher ranked at the time.
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