Steve Borthwick safe from sack even if England flop at Rugby World Cup

Steve Borthwick’s position as England head coach is not under threat even if his side fail to make it out of the pool stage at the Rugby World Cup in France, Telegraph Sport understands.

Borthwick’s side begin their campaign as underdogs in a crucial pool match against Argentina in Marseille on Saturday night, with just three wins from their last nine games.

A victory against Argentina, who are ranked two places higher than England at sixth in the World Rugby rankings, would kick-start Borthwick’s tenure and put his side in pole position to qualify for the quarter-finals, in a pool that also contains Japan, Chile and Samoa.

Defeat however would lead to three weeks of angst ahead of their final game against Samoa, who pushed Ireland close in their final warm-up match in Bayonne last month.

But even if England fail to reach the knockout stages, as they did in 2015 when hosting the tournament, which led to the sacking of head coach Stuart Lancaster, it is understood that Borthwick’s position is secure as his appointment is viewed within the Rugby Football Union as key to a long-term rebuilding process towards the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

At the time of his appointment in December, Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive said Borthwick’s appointment signalled a new chapter in English rugby.

With a new professional game agreement between the RFU and Premiership Rugby set to be agreed next month, giving England more control over their players, and a governance review expected, Borthwick will be given time to oversee what is expected to be a radical overhaul of the elite game next year.

“This is a long-term rebuild,” said Sweeney in December. “I think we’ve got a fantastic squad of players, I think we’ll be very competitive at the World Cup, but we won’t say ‘this is what defines success’.”

Borthwick had originally been ear-marked by the RFU to succeed Jones after this World Cup but instead his appointment had to be fast-tracked following the Australian’s dismissal last December, leaving him just five competitive matches plus the four warm-up games to prepare for the tournament.

The former England captain, who coached Leicester Tigers to the Premiership title in 2022, has also had to assemble a coaching team at short notice, and his side have struggled to find form during their four warm-ups last month, which included a first defeat by Fiji in their final match at Twickenham.

Jones, who is now in charge of Australia, was sacked after defeats by Argentina and South Africa at Twickenham last November, and England have won just four of their last 13 Tests in the last year.