Shaun Edwards says Steve Borthwick turned down his offer to work for England
Shaun Edwards says Steve Borthwick has turned down his offer to work for England at next year's Rugby World Cup.
Edwards, one of the most successful defence coaches in the sport, told Rugby Union Weekly that he had a phone call with Borthwick, England's head coach, about joining the set-up. He said he was willing to take almost any role. He told Borthwick he would even serve as assistant kit man. BBC Sport reports that Borthwick replied that he was happy with his staff and with how things had been going.
Defence coaches decide how a team stops its opponents scoring. They shape the line a side defends, when players rush up, and how the team wins the ball back after being tackled. England's defence is currently overseen by Richard Wigglesworth, who is supported by Byron McGuigan and Joe El-Abd, as the team builds towards Australia 2027.
The timing matters for England. They won 12 Tests in a row until Scotland ended the run in February. Five straight defeats followed. England have since beaten Fiji and Argentina, and they face Australia, Japan, New Zealand and a Nations Championship play-off in November.
Edwards's record is long. He spent 12 years with Wales and won three Six Nations Grand Slams, which means winning all five matches in the annual tournament between the home nations and France and Italy. He later helped France win three Six Nations titles, and left his post with France earlier this year. At Wasps he won two European Champions Cups and four English league titles.
He has now taken a job with Argentina. The BBC reported in October that he had joined Argentina as defence coach, on a deal that runs until the end of the 2027 World Cup in Australia. He had also spent a short spell working with England's women's team.
England have looked at him before. The Rugby Football Union approached him about its coaching pathway in 2006 and again in 2008. In 2008, while still coaching Wasps, he turned down an England role, and the union said he would not join the set-up that season. In 2019, Wales chose Wayne Pivac rather than Edwards to replace Warren Gatland. In 2021, RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney held informal talks with him but chose not to compete with France for his services. Jake White later took the vacant Fiji job that Edwards had been linked with.
For England fans, the news is a reminder of how much weight rests on the defence as the World Cup approaches. Borthwick's answer suggests he is content with the coaches he already has. Edwards, for now, is focused on Argentina.
