However the RFU decides to present it, the decision to extend Steve Borthwick’s contract as England head coach will go down like a lead balloon.
Conor O’Shea, the governing body’s executive director of performance rugby, quietly slipped the news into a BBC podcast. Perhaps it was a futile attempt to take the sting out of any upcoming formal announcement.
Borthwick has been handed a short-term extension until the middle of 2028, which effectively puts him in charge of the first Six Nations campaign after next year’s World Cup.
It is hardly a leap of faith by the decision makers at Twickenham. In Ireland, their union handed Andy Farrell a four-year contract extension to keep him in Dublin. Now that is an indication of how you really back your coach.
England should have moved heaven and earth to bring Farrell back to the RFU for next year. He guided the Lions to a series victory in Australia last year but Bill Sweeney, the RFU CEO, did not even make contact.
The RFU’s token gesture to extend Borthwick’s contract for a few months smacks of an organisation which does not have a long-term plan.
Contract extensions are typically a reward for success but this is a decision that leaves more questions than answers.
O’Shea told the BBC podcast that he has a ‘long list’ of candidates to lead England through their next World Cup cycle, yet most rivals have already identified their man.
Steve Borthwick has been offered a new contract to take him through the 2028 Six Nations
England have lost five of their eight Tests this year, including their worst ever Six Nations
Borthwick has won 58 per cent of his games since he took over from Eddie Jones in 2022. Jones, for the record, was marched out of Twickenham with a winning record of 73 per cent.
The optics of renewing Borthwick’s contract in a year when England finished the Six Nations in fifth place are not good.
The 2026 Championship was England’s worst ever, including a first defeat by Italy. Borthwick’s critics are still coming to terms with the fact that he was not sacked after that campaign. Now, he has been backed by Sweeney and O’Shea further. It really does beggar belief.
You do not have to look far on social media to see that Borthwick’s stock with the public is low, despite his victories over Fiji and Argentina this summer.
He has been lambasted for his lack of public emotion – although there were signs of change there when he snapped in his last press conference after his team’s final July Test.
‘I love it. You’re my negativity committee. It’s lovely coming in and talking to you again,’ he said, when I asked about the four yellow cards conceded by England during the second half of their victory over Argentina.
The recent Tests between South Africa and New Zealand were a step up in quality and intensity from the Nations Championship, highlighting the gulf that has formed in the Test arena.
In many ways, this latest RFU decision feels like nothing more than a move to take some of the heat off Borthwick in the upcoming autumn campaign, rather than challenging him to take the best-funded rugby union in the world back to the top of the sport.
Questions remain about the national team’s playing style, with a jarring contrast between Borthwick’s philosophy and the attacking flair of his Northampton-dominated backline.
This latest decision by Bill Sweeney’s RFU feels like nothing more than a move to take some of the heat off Borthwick in the upcoming autumn campaign
England are only six months on from losing to Italy for the first time, and still have four tricky autumn fixtures to navigate before another Six Nations campaign and then the World Cup
If England fail to impress against Australia in their next Test at Twickenham, the dreaded boos will not be far away. That was what did for Jones in the end, leading to Borthwick taking on the role a year out from the 2023 World Cup.
Since then, despite a 12-match winning run last year, it is hard to make the argument England have progressed significantly.
‘You don’t want them (coaches) looking for a job going into (a World Cup),’ O’Shea explained. ‘Everyone knows it will be judged on the World Cup, but you can’t have a group of coaches going in with that uncertainty, especially when you look at the timing. So, we will give that certainty and that will give us time to look properly.’
But Borthwick already has the job of his dreams, so why would he be looking elsewhere? His entire focus should be on winning the World Cup and earning a genuine contract extension.
But unless England miraculously lift the Webb Ellis Cup in Sydney, then it is hard to see a swing in the opinion polls. That looks a long shot at best right now. On the evidence of recent weeks, they look far behind the standards being set by the Springboks and All Blacks.
You suspect the likes of Jacques Nienaber and Ronan O’Gara are already plotting their next move, rather than waiting until spring 2028 for a call from Twickenham.
O’Gara looks most likely to stay with his French employers La Rochelle, perhaps with a view to one day succeeding Farrell in his homeland. England could do worse than look at Nienaber, currently with Leinster.
Could Shaun Edwards, one of the world’s best and most decorated coaches who has been overlooked by England for so long while winning trophies with their rivals, one day come into the picture too?
Jacques Nienaber (left) is one of the masterminds of South Africa’s back-to-back World Cup wins and should be squarely in England’s thoughts to lead them into the 2031 tournament
Borthwick already has the job of his dreams, so why would he be looking elsewhere? His entire focus should be on winning the World Cup and earning a genuine contract extension
Borthwick’s assistants Lee Blackett and Richard Wigglesworth will already be thinking about jobs with more responsibility after next year’s World Cup.
Funnily enough, O’Shea accidentally walked into an England press conference on the day he recorded said podcast.
‘Wrong room,’ he declared, before performing one of the sharpest U-turns of the year.
Perhaps it makes sense now, because the RFU’s latest decision is one that is particularly tricky to explain.
