As much as there were grey and rainy skies outside of Twickenham, England’s new head coach Steve Borthwick and RFU CEO Bill Sweeney were beaming.
The pair walked into the media room in Twickenham Stadium’s west wing together, the duo dressed to the nines for their first outing together.
For much of the past two weeks it had been reported that the RFU had been courting Borthwick to get the top job, the 43-year-old keen on leading his country, the only sticking point being his release from his duties as Leicester Tigers head coach.
In his opening statement, Sweeney was nothing short of glowing in his praise for the Cumbrian.
Running through Borthwick’s numerous achievements as both a player and more recently as a coach, it was clear from the off that Borthwick was the man they wanted from the moment Eddie Jones last left England following his sacking.
Opening up about the succession plan for Jones that was due to be implemented following Jones’ departure following the conclusion of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the executive revealed that Borthwick was likely to get the top job in due course.
A succession plan led by Borthwick’s former Bath teammate Nigel Redman, Sweeney said that he started to lay the foundations for Borthwick’s arrival at Twickenham during the summer.
“It’s been a long, ongoing process,” Sweeney said. “My first conversation with Leicester was back in August of this year, so there’s nothing surprising, if you like, about it.
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— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) December 19, 2022
Rewatch Steve Borthwick's first news conference as new England men's head coach as he outlines his vision for the role.
“Before every tournament we have a preview and after we have a review, in terms of how it has gone and are we on track? Are we delivering against the strategy that we put in place in terms of how the team performed.
“Clearly, we had a disappointing autumn and didn’t get the results we wanted, hence we had a review process and decided we wanted to accelerate the process of bringing Steve in as soon as we could.
“He knows England inside and out, an England style of playing, the journey he’s been on since he was a player and coaching internationally, has top-class club experience, and has been successful along the way.
“Going back some time now, our number one lead choice for the successor was always Steve.”
There are memories of seven years ago when looking at Borthwick. Like then, the former England captain is wearing a black suit with a red tie. Then he was taking on an assistant coaching role under Eddie Jones, his mentor bringing him along for another ride after having concluded their time together with Japan at the 2015 World Cup.
Maybe the key difference now is that the 43-year-old is very much his own man. Having gone it alone at Leicester Tigers, a side in freefall in the Gallagher Premiership, and duly taking the club back to the very top with a English domestic title earlier this year.
His two and a half years at Mattioli Woods Welford Road will be remembered fondly by those in the East Midlands, but as his team’s bruising, set piece fuelled style of play seems to be heading to TW2, England’s new head coach is almost nostalgic.
“To be appointed to this role fills me with incredible pride and I’m honoured to take on this job,” Borthwick said. “Now I know pride will count for nothing if we don’t deliver. I want to shape a team that wins.
“I was a little boy who fell in love with rugby watching the England team play. I want to shape a team that this nation gets behind and inspired our supporters, inspires a lot of young boys and girls to fall in love with rugby as I did all those years ago.
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“We’ve got a lot of work to do, and we are going to start that work today. I’m incredibly excited to be here [Twickenham]. I made my debut here in 2001, my first game for England.
“The stadium has changed a bit since that point in time. But from that day, the thing that will stick in my mind is that as you stepped just outside the tunnel, the noise that hits you in the stadium. Every time I come here; I think of the first time I hear that roar.
“It is not very long until we play Scotland here and when this team walks out of that tunnel, I want to hear that roar louder than ever.
“Our job as a team, my job as coach in helping prepare that team, is to give our supporters plenty to roar about.
“We want this ground as noisy as it’s ever been, by the way we play, by the way we compete, by the way we fight on the pitch. I want a team this nation can be proud of.”
As of the day of his appointment, just 47 days stand between England’s new head coach and their first game of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations. A fixture in which England have faltered in recent years, and under Eddie Jones haven’t won since 2020, plenty of eyes will be on Twickenham in early February.
Between now and then, there is much for Borthwick to do. He has the services of Kevin Sinfield secured, the rugby league legend not at Twickenham in order to attend Doddie Weir’s memorial service in Scotland, and the rest of the 43-year-old’s coaching group is unknown.
With nine games standing between now and the start of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, all of this is a gamble from the RFU. Theor bank balance would have paid heavily, but while the odds are high, the reward is certainly handsome.
Squad selection that will be upon us before we know it, there isn’t much time at all for England’s new leading man to get his feet under the table. What is noticeable about Borthwick is that he feels everything.
His Leicester Tigers teams played in the same manner, battling for everything and ultimately prospering as a result of their desire. With that in mind, it’s difficult to imagine that Borthwick’s England will be any different, with winning at the top of his agenda, it is a move away from the suggestion that England will win a world cup with the most coherent attack in the world of rugby.
Feeling, seemingly, is inherent in everything that Borthwick does. When asked about whether or not his England team has to entertain as well as win, his answer quickly associated with providing supporters with pride.
"When you work really hard, be real clear on what you're going to do, something like this can happen."
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) December 19, 2022
Steve Borthwick spoke of the importance of making people proud after Leicester Tigers' Premiership win.
?? He's determined to do the same with England. pic.twitter.com/jmbIa26wpR
“I think as a coach what I want to do is produce a team that delivers,” Borthwick said. “I think that's what Twickenham supporters want. I got home a couple of days ago, stepped in the door, and I've got two boys.
“My nine year-old is Hunter, and he came running towards me carrying a ball in his hand, and I thought this is one of those moments as a father where you think 'he's going to give me this great big hug', kind of a heart-warming moment.
“He ran straight past me and dived on the floor on the far side of the living room and said 'that's the winning try daddy, I just scored the winning try'. Brilliant. One problem was I missed out on my hug. The other was that he was wearing a Wallabies shirt. His mother's to blame for that.
“It reminds me of the power that rugby has, this incredible sport that we love. It has such power. What I want to do is make sure that this team that uses that power to get kids to fall in love with the game, to get supporters roaring.
“Now, we have a lot of work to do and I think everyone can see that. It's not going to happen overnight. But I think we've got a great group of players, experienced players, young players emerging with such incredible talent. That is really exciting.”
