How Vincent Kompany helped hooker get the England armband

Burnley manager’s idea found Borthwick a leader

JAMIE GEORGE’S appointment as england rugby captain was partly down to the input of the Belgian manager of Premier League club Burnley.

after confirming that saracens’ popular, respected veteran hooker would be taking over the primary leadership role, following owen Farrell’s decision to step back from Test duties, steve Borthwick revealed that Vincent Kompany had a background role in the decision.

He wasn’t consulted — nothing like that — but a suggestion of his proved to be a useful tool which helped Borthwick make his own mind up.

‘Prior to the World Cup, we did this study,’ said the coach. ‘it was a network analysis, for want of a better term. it was an idea given to me by Vincent Kompany. You give the players a series of questions, about the top three players you turn to in these situations. What it produces is a network of how everybody connects, and who connects with who the most, in different elements in tactical elements, high-pressure circumstances, off the field.

‘so i had this incredible amount of information, and it said, “i know where people turn”. and the number of people who connected with Jamie George is immense.

‘His ability, across the whole squad, to understand people, i knew it was very good. That stood out to me as being exceptional.

so he’s a great people-person. He’s got a positive nature. There’s always a smile very close in the way he is. and i want him to bring all of that into this role as the captain.’

When Borthwick joined saracens from Bath, during his playing career, George was ‘this fresh-faced youngster’ in the academy. The experienced lock noticed how the other rookies who were coming through always turned to two leading figures within their peer group: George and Farrell.

Now, the new skipper is 33 — so could he continue in the role all the way to the next World Cup?

‘i have put no time on this,’ said Borthwick. ‘if players are smart and look after themselves, you can see players playing later.

‘everyone talks about Johnny sexton playing at 38. Whenever i talk to a player from the more senior generation, i say, “Keep playing”. once you are retired, you are retired. i don’t put limits on players.’

it had the feeling of a momentous occasion at Twickenham as Borthwick named his new-look squad, which contained just 17 of the 34 men who appeared at the World Cup three months ago.

There were seven uncapped players and Kyle sinckler and Billy Vunipola were two notable absentees. The man in charge expressed hope that they would work hard and return soon, but the former is bound for Toulon at the end of the season and the latter may take up an offer in Japan.

of course, Borthwick wants all leading players to stay in the country and remain available, but he is also mindful of being supportive when opportunities arise. ‘my views are three-fold,’ he said. ‘one, we need a system here that makes the players want to play in this country so they don’t want to leave.

‘Two, it’s about being respectful that players have decisions to make and their careers aren’t long, so while we have a system that ensures they want to stay here we will be respectful of those decisions.

‘Three, being aware and planning for those “What if?” situations. Who is next? How do we fast-track them? How do we bring them through as quickly as we can?’

at No8, with no place for big Billy, there is only one specialist — the recalled Harlequins captain, alex Dombrandt, although Ben earl is likely to pick up where he left off at the World Cup, at the base of england’s scrum. Without

Sinckler, Joe heyes of leicester has been added to the tighthead ranks behind the evergreen Dan Cole and Will Stuart.

on the other side of the front row, England have injury doubts about their two leading looseheads, but Borthwick is hopeful they will be ready for the opener against italy in rome on February 3.

Ellis Genge says he has recovered from a hamstring problem ‘like Wolverine’ and Borthwick added: ‘the approach Ellis has taken in his rehab has been incredible. he has attacked it to be fit for the Six nations. it’s tight but i have every confidence in him to do everything he can to be right.’

While Fin Baxter is on standby, Borthwick is optimistic that the senior harlequins no1, Joe Marler, will recover from a biceps injury to be available too, adding: ‘he rang me and said, “i want to be ready”. So it’s another who is doing everything to play for England.’

leicester lock George Martin is out for weeks, but a meeting with George Ford on tuesday convinced Borthwick that his fly-half will be fit after missing two Sale games to manage a knee issue. it would be no surprise to see Ford preferred to Marcus Smith at no 10, given the short in- camp build-up for the Six nations.

Asked if England would go through a strategic overhaul as well as a personnel one, Borthwick said: ‘in terms of our development, it’s important we build on our game. But we start training next Wednesday, 10 days before the first game, so we are talking about three main training sessions.

‘What we are intent on doing is making progress in these games. We are looking at how we evolve our attack, but we have to turn a team around pretty quickly so we will concentrate on ensuring that we get the big blocks in place.

‘if you look at this squad, there’s a lot of talent in those backs. i am looking forward to seeing how they go when they get the ball in their hands.’