Eddie Jones backs Steve Borthwick amid RFU review
Eddie Jones says England would be foolish to sack Steve Borthwick as the RFU reviews a Six Nations campaign
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Former England head coach Eddie Jones has backed Steve Borthwick to remain in charge despite the Rugby Football Union (RFU) beginning its post-Six Nations review after England’s difficult campaign.
England finished fifth after losing 48-46 to France in Paris, ending the tournament with one win and four defeats.
Eddie Jones Backs Steve Borthwick
Jones said it would be “foolhardy” for the RFU to remove Borthwick so close to the next Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Speaking after the tournament, he said Borthwick remains the right man for the job despite England’s poor championship and argued that the focus should be on identifying what went wrong and how to correct it.
"Steve's done a good job with England, they've just come off a string of 12 wins," he told Rugby Unity podcast.
"They’ve had a bad tournament.
"There's no doubt that they had a bad tournament, so he'll need to show to the RFU that he knows why he’s had a bad tournament, he knows how he's going to turn it around and I’m sure he can do that."
England Six Nations Review Underway
The RFU carries out a review after each campaign, and this year’s process comes after England’s worst Six Nations in terms of defeats. Borthwick’s side entered the tournament with strong momentum after beating Wales in round one, but that faded with losses to Scotland, Ireland, Italy and France.
The narrow defeat to France in the final round was one of England’s better attacking performances of the tournament, but it was still not enough to avoid a fifth-place finish.
World Cup Timing Shapes RFU Decision
Jones argued that changing coaches now would be a major gamble with the World Cup approaching. His view is that England should support Borthwick through a poor tournament rather than restart the coaching cycle at a crucial stage.
"I'll say it again, I think Borthwick is the right man to coach England and I think they should support him through this.
"Maybe he's got a few things wrong and they'll need to help him rectify those errors, but they'd be foolhardy to change case now."
