Nothing to hide in my England setup, says Borthwick

Steve Borthwick has insisted he has nothing to hide about his England setup and believes his players are empowered to speak up after claims from Danny Care that Eddie Jones's regime was like "living in a dictatorship".

- Gerard Meagher

Borthwick spent more than four years as Jones's assistant but sought to distance his environment from that of the Australian's after the former England scrum-half's portrayal of a toxic culture raised serious questions over the Rugby Football Union's safeguarding procedures. The World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward has described it as "astonishing" that Jones's contract was renewed by the RFU.

Over the summer, the head of strength and conditioning, Aled Walters, and the defence coach, Felix Jones, resigned within days of each other, evoking memories of the churn of staff under Jones. Care wrote in his autobiography that Jones's staff "ended up as shells of their former selves" due to the treatment they received.