The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has backed Steve Borthwick to lead England into the 2027 Rugby World Cup after a “thorough and honest” review of their Six Nations campaign.
Borthwick’s side, who had begun the tournament as title hopefuls, won just once during the course of the competition, suffering a first-ever defeat to Italy and finishing fifth in the table.
Following a detailed and robust process, though, RFU CEO Bill Sweeney and the rest of the English rugby hierarchy have underlined their commitment to head coach Borthwick to steer the side into next year’s World Cup despite their underperformance.
“The review concluded that, despite coming off a 12‑game winning run, England’s underperformance across the Six Nations was not the result of a singular failure or issue,” a statement from the RFU said.
“Instead, it highlighted a number of interconnected performance areas, such as discipline, execution of opportunities and making the most of key moments, where improvement is required if England are to consistently perform at the level expected.
“While performance confidentiality in a competitive international sporting environment limits the level of detail that can be shared publicly – particularly around game strategy and execution – the way in which the team aspires to play was clear throughout the review. We recognise why supporters felt frustrated and that they expected more. That disappointment was shared internally, and it underpinned the seriousness with which everyone engaged in this process.”
England are due to return to action in July as they embark on their inaugural Nations Championship campaign. Borthwick takes his side to Johannesburg to face South Africa, before facing Fiji at the Hill Dickinson Stadium and Argentina in Santiago del Estero.
While Sweeney had appeared to give Borthwick those fixtures to find an improvement in a statement released following the Italy loss, an encouraging performance, albeit in defeat, against France in the final round of the Six Nations and subsequent review appears to have given the chief executive renewed confidence that the former lock remains the man to lead England forward.
“This has been a thorough and honest review, and it is clear that improvement will come from addressing several areas rather than chasing one simple answer,” Sweeney said.
“We’ve all seen what this England side is capable of – most recently in the performance against France, and during the strong winning run before that.
“That doesn’t disappear overnight. The challenge now is delivering that level consistently, and we are confident this group can do that, supported by the insight and feedback this review has surfaced. This is a young England team that is still growing and developing, and we understand progress in international sport is rarely linear.
“Steve has engaged in this process with full openness and has clear plans in place to address these findings. We are all behind him and his coaching team going into the Nations Championship and the series of matches leading into Rugby World Cup 2027.”
