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Steve Borthwick back in Paris less than four weeks after World Cup
By Liam Heagney
Steve Borthwick was reportedly back in Paris on Wednesday, 26 days after England defeated Argentina in the French capital to clinch a bronze medal finish at the Rugby World Cup.
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Amid speculation that he could reshuffle his coaching staff on the back of the imminent arrival of new assistant Felix Jones ahead of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations, the head coach has been keeping busy since the finals ended less than four weeks ago.
Last Saturday he attended the Gallagher Premiership clash between Harlequins and Saracens in London and he is due in Newcastle next Sunday to take in their game versus Exeter. In the meantime, he visited the Racing 92 training ground on Wednesday in Paris.
That Top 14 club is now coached by Stuart Lancaster, the 2015 England World Cup boss, and they currently have apprentice Test winger Henry Arundell on their books after he joined them in the off-season following the financial collapse of London Irish.
Arundell played in two of England’s seven games at the recent World Cup and he remains eligible for Test selection next spring due to a one-season RFU dispensation.
A report in L’Equipe read: “Le Plessis-Robinson took on an even more English accent on Wednesday. Steve Borthwick, the coach of England who were third in the last World Cup, visited the facilities of Racing 92 and met with his compatriot Stuart Lancaster, manager of the Ile-de-France club and also the former boss of England (2011-2015).
“It was also an opportunity to talk to young international full-back Henry Arundell, whom his federation would like to see return home at the end of the season. But for the moment, no decision has been made about its future.”
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With Borthwick due to visit Kingston Park at the weekend, England defence coach Kevin Sinfield and team manager Richard Hill will be at Friday night’s Northampton versus Harlequins game.
Attack coach Richard Wigglesworth will also be busy on Friday attending Sale versus Bath, with scrum coach Tom Harrison set to be in London for Saturday’s Saracens versus Bristol fixture.
No confirmation has yet been given as to what role Jones, the recent World Cup-winning Springboks assistant, will have with Borthwick’s England.
There has been speculation that Sinfield won’t be kept on and that Wigglesworth could return to Leicester if Dan McKellar quits for the vacant Wallabies job.
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Meanwhile, Paul Gustard, the current Stade France assistant who worked alongside Borthwick during the early years of the Eddie Jones era, has also been linked with a potential England return.
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The weather was dreadful but the playing surface was great so there is no real excuse for such another poor standard of play from both sides. Dragons just the better team. But, what a shocking decision by the TMO not to award the Fifita try. This pretty much sums up Welsh rugby with poor teams and poor officials. The WRU have a lot of work to do and it needs to be done quickly to avoid rugby being lost to our future generations.
Go to commentsNo chance of Borthwick selecting any young talent. He announced his selection policy from the outset with naming a poor OF as Captain, retaining an equally poor Youngs and Vunipola brothers when there were many better EQP in the Premiership. SB revival of Leicester was based on SA muscle and a terrific Welsh flanker he has generally ignored young English talent.
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