For Steve Borthwick, the nights are always darkest after a defeat. Sleep is rarely an option. Instead, the hours before dawn are spent reviewing the game again and again, agonising over his selections and tactical decisions. But by morning that hatred of the loss has passed. At least publicly, anyway.
It is a ritual he had to endure more than he would have liked when he agreed to take the job in the end days of the Eddie Jones’ tenure, particularly over the last year when the agony of defeat has been intensified by the fact that too often the result has gone against England in the final quarter of Test matches.
That was until, finally, the game swung in England’s favour in final moments against France, with Elliot Daly’s try clinching a 26-25 victory that has changed everything: from opening up a potential route to winning the Guinness Six Nations title, increasing the potential of English players in the Lions squad bound for Australia this summer, and allowing Borthwick to finally get a few hours of sleep after a game.
In all his dealings with the England players, however, there has been an enduring consistency. In the England changing room after the victory over France he told his players he had been asked if he had been proud of their performance. He told them that while he was happy that they had won the game, he was equally as proud of them after the previous narrow defeats. His gratitude for their commitment had not changed. The only thing that was different was that he was delighted they had got the result.
After the game, Borthwick, his management team and the squad returned to their training base at Pennyhill Park hotel in Bagshot in Surrey for dinner and a few drinks. The players were allowed to return home that night, but Borthwick stayed with those that remained before excusing himself to review the game and then driving home in the early hours of Sunday morning for the relief of even just a few hours sleep.
Family time was planned on Sunday, the start of the fallow week, but not before he watched the match again in detail in the morning and then, at the end of the day, watched it again to see if his initial analysis matched his thoughts at the end of the day.
One thing that did not change was his coaching philosophy. It would have been the same even if he had faced another sleepless night had Daly not crossed for his late try and Fin Smith landed the match-winning conversion.
A defeat by France could have placed his job security under the most severe pressure going into Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match against Scotland. The day after his French analysis was completed, Warren Gatland felt compelled to bring his second spell as Wales head coach to an end after 14 successive defeats. Fabien Galthié, the French coach, was facing scrutiny over the lack of silverware commensurate with his golden generation, and Gregor Townsend was facing similar questions after Scotland’s defeat by Ireland.
Yet his pledge to himself when he took the job was not to be influenced by the crosswinds of criticism. England may not be the best team in the world, but the head coach job is the most scrutinised in world rugby. Borthwick knew this when accepted the job nine months before the 2023 World Cup in France. Back then he had inherited a squad with players whom he had never coached before and had to deploy different tactics and combinations to find out about players he didn’t know.
Fault lines in pathway had to be bridged with rookie players
After the World Cup, when a limited kicking game brought England to the verge of the final, Borthwick was up front with his employers, the Rugby Football Union. There were gaps in the development pathway that would now be exposed following the tournament, and having bridged that gap with experienced heads, those fault lines would have to be masked by young players who, like rookie boxers, were prepared to go up against the best in the world to learn the hard way.
In the meantime, Borthwick cultivated a support group who were willing to offer their support when the going inevitably would get tough, and surprisingly they came from the world of football, where results are king and defeats tend to lead to swift calls for a manager to be sacked.
It is a niche group. Not many people face just scrutiny in roles like Borthwick’s and there are fewer who want to take the jobs on.
The early message to him was to consider how to handle the pressure. You either listen to it and when the crosswinds come, fold or change. Or cling to the belief in what you are doing and embrace the pressure.
Borthwick’s public persona may be that of a coach who would rather be anywhere but under the public spotlight, but privately it is a different story. The coach who proved his resilience by coping with the worst excesses of Jones, first as his assistant coach at Japan and then at England, accepted that the pressure meant that what he was trying to achieve made him relevant. He would rather go through life with pressure, than without it.
This trusted group remains private, but they meet up in person when they can. Last Saturday, Borthwick had a couple of football coaches message him. In a society where everyone demands change, Borthwick has a clear view of where the team is going and what needs to improve.
‘Listen to everything and you fall for everything’
When he walks down a street, he faces constant feedback of who he should pick. But his mantra is that if you listen to everything, you fall for everything. After Sir Clive Woodward’s reign, English rugby has been undermined by short-termism of the need to chop and change.
It is not blind belief. As well as the football advisers, he has another group around him who challenge his thinking all the time and check in every few days to provide feedback in a similar fashion to his time guiding Leicester Tigers to the Premiership title in 2022.
He may not be able to draw upon a dominant England club side, the way Woodward could do with Leicester and Jones could do with Saracens in the run-up to the 2019 World Cup, but it is no coincidence to see him harness the attacking strengths of Northampton Saints’ backline. Togetherness is the catchword.
In that sense, Fin Smith’s retention of the fly-half position feels like a watershed moment. The 22-year-old may be lacking in experience but will be a key leader in the team for the next decade. His calm and assured character is infectious and what is significant is that the Northampton players, even the more senior figures, defer to him and will do what he asks of them.
Which brings us to another acid test of Borthwick’s resilience: the trade-off between short-term results and the development of the squad to the 2027 World Cup. A head coach who was solely interested in self-preservation, would have prioritised a defensive kicking game.
But Borthwick identified two moments in the 16-15 World Cup semi-final defeat by South Africa in Paris when the opportunity to reach the final was squandered by not taking glaring try-scoring opportunities, despite the set-piece and kicking dominance.
The chances were lost because England had not had time to build an attack during the World Cup camp: in the year going into the tournament, it is traditional for defences to be the point of difference.
To counter that, Borthwick has insisted that England should spend this year and next focusing on their attack, even if that means coughing up possession in dangerous positions on the pitch and leaving his side vulnerable.
The decision may lead to more sleepless nights in the short term, but whatever the pressure that may bring, in the pursuit of something great, Borthwick is not for turning.
