SUPPORT’S JUST Borthwick’s rally cry to fully back FAN-TASTIC the boys at Twickenham
STEVE BORTHWICK leads England into the Six Nations armed with pearls of wisdom from Gareth Southgate and Adam Peaty’s coach – and a plea to the fans. The former Leicester Tigers boss has been handed the task of turning around, in double quick time, a team booed off at Twickenham on its last appearance.
Eddie Jones paid the price for losing the supporters after a calendar year in which dismal England lost six times – seven if you include the defeat by the Barbarians.
Borthwick has made it almost his first task to reconnect with the fans and has implored them to back the restoration project he has undertaken with assistants Kevin Sinfield and Nick Evans.
“Not one player can add more than the home crowd can,” he said.
“People talk about them being the 16th man but the crowd is worth more than one player – it is worth more than anything else, so I would ask the Twickenham crowd to roar this team on.”
As a former player and captain at a time when England often struggled, Borthwick is only too well aware of the difference cheers make to jeers inside Twickenham’s cavernous arena.
“We have a lot of work to do and I know we have got to deliver on the pitch,” he said. “As we grow as a team, I am expecting us to but one thing we ask is that the crowd are with us. I think they are going to be.”
Borthwick, 43, has held up his end of the deal by making himself as qualified as possible for arguably the biggest job in world rugby.
A 57-cap playing career left him feeling he had not maximised his potential and got the absolute best out of himself.
He has channelled that frustration into being the best coach he can possibly be – taking himself abroad to learn and work in Japan before returning to reach the 2019 World Cup final assisting Jones and then landing the Premiership title with Leicester.
Along the way, he enrolled in the UK Sport Elite Coach programme and so crossed paths with Southgate and Mel Marshall, coach to Olympic swimming great Peaty.
“It was one of the greatest experiences I have had,” said Borthwick.
“Studying with some unbelievable coaches – Mel, Gareth, Paula Dunn (UK
Athletics’ senior team leader). I was coming into the room and going, ‘I know I am going to learn today. I am going to listen to every word Mel Marshall says because she is incredible’.those experiences open your eyes.”
Borthwick hopes those experiences and all that learning have equipped him for the task ahead – a nine-month campaign in which Six Nations bragging rights and a World Cup are at stake.
And he is delighted to have the chance. “I have the great honour of coaching these guys as head coach,” he said. “I can’t wait to get started.”
ENGLAND ace Sam Simmonds has vowed to put smiles on Twickenham faces next Saturday after being targeted by boo boys in
the autumn.
The team were jeered off following their 27-13 crushing by South Africa in November, which saw Eddie Jones axed.
But No.8 Simmonds insists Steve Borthwick’s England will be different from the shambles of a few months ago. He said: “Whether you win or lose, if you are proud of what you put out there, people will follow that.
“It all starts with how you train, training to win
– and the fans
see that.”