Steve Borthwick backed to complete England World Cup overhaul despite Six Nations struggles

Steve Borthwick will be handed the RFU’s full backing to complete his England overhaul for the Rugby World Cup.

England will review another underwhelming Six Nations this week, where reflections on a third straight competition returning just two wins will be critical and forthright.

The RFU are entirely invested in helping new head coach Borthwick maximise his impact on England, however, starting with completing his staff. Richard Wigglesworth and Aled Walters will join at the end of the season, while Harlequins assistant Nick Evans could yet come on board permanently.

Saracens forwards specialist Ian Peel could slot in to replace Montpellier-bound Richard Cockerill. Borthwick’s biggest challenges will revolve around the pull between club and country, though.

“Once the players have returned to their clubs, we have no control over them,” said Borthwick. “We will have conversations with the players and with their clubs so we can give what we would like but, ultimately, we don’t have control over that.

“We have to make sure we get the condition of the players right and allow the players to come into camp in a really good condition. We don’t want to spend the World Cup camp trying to get fit. We want to use the World Cup camp to get better.”

England have no more competitive fixtures before the World Cup opener against Argentina in Marseille on September 9. Head coach Borthwick’s men have four warm-up matches in the summer, where combinations and strategies can be fine-tuned.

Borthwick hopes his current limited scope in player control will change when the new Professional Game Agreement (PGA) is composed to come into force in 2024-25.