2027 World Cup is closer than you think, says Borthwick
Steve Borthwick admits he faces a race against time to get England up to speed as he turns his sights to the 2027 World Cup.
The England head coach was ruing a missed opportunity when he flew from New Zealand last week after running the All Blacks close twice.
In Dunedin and Auckland the tourists were within a single score of the Kiwis without getting over the line as the streetwise hosts closed out both Tests.
Borthwick's to-do list includes going through the fine detail of the new central contracts, persuading Dan Cole to keep going and he is also planning a trip to the USA to visit NFL teams.
But his most pressing concern is instilling experience and nous into his side and he admits he has got not much time to do it.
“It is a young group and I say that for no other reason than it is just a fact.
I need to coach them as fast as I can,” said Borthwick. “We have around 35 Test matches between now and the World Cup. I can't get more games. I can't buy experience in international rugby. So, all I can do is look at the programme of how we maximise every minute of learning off field and on field. That's the goal right now in this next period when the players have their break and I will look at exactly what we need to do.
“We have gone from having 1200 caps in a matchday squad in the World Cup to the second Test having 675 in the matchday 23. There's not as much experience there and there's a different blend of team in terms of the personnel but what we have got now is a lot of exciting young talent, especially in the backline who I think want to be positive and aggressive with the ball.
“They are very skilled and we have got pace with Manny Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman and Ollie Sleightholme. They do not have many caps between them and they are very young, but they have got real pace. We spoke about the experience of the New Zealand team and the few players we had who had played in New Zealand before shared their experiences. Now these players have been exposed to this level, seeing exactly how Test matches are won”
The hybrid contracts will give Borthwick more control over players' fitness programmes when they are at their clubs and around 20 are expected to be handed out in September.
Borthwick added: “What it will give us medically, and from a strength and conditioning point of view is players who are in better condition when it comes to playing England games.
“Ultimately, we want the best players playing in an England shirt in the best condition so we can compete with the best sides in the world. There's been times players have been unavailable, or not been in the right condition, and it's not easy for them.”
“The best players will be picked for the match 23 to get the result on the Saturday regardless of whether they have a central component in their contract.”
Reflecting on a near 13-month season that saw England go from losing a warm-up game to Fiji, to making the World Cup semi-final, to beating Ireland and running the
Kiwis close, Borthwick insists England have made progress. But there is more to do. “We have had two definitive phases,” he said. “One the World Cup phase which was getting the team fit and understanding of how we wanted to play very quickly.
“Bringing a new coaching team together at that point in time and with an experienced group of players. We had an experienced group who had played a lot of Test matches together but with a new coaching group and I had to bring them together. We fell a bit short.
“We wanted to win the World Cup and we fell a bit short of that. Then the second phase started and that second phase is building a new team that's involved a number of new caps. So far in eight Tests in 2024 we have had eight new caps.”
Borthwick hopes skills coach Kevin Sinfield will stay on the staff having planned to leave his role this summer. “I'm hopeful we will be able to find an agreement,” Borthwick said. “It won't necessarily be on a full-time capacity but I am hoping to have him whenever we are in camp.”
