Borthwick family values will be key to getting the best out of his players

EVERY time Steve Borthwick needs to refocus on how to treat his England players, he will look at his two young sons. England’s new head coach will ask himself: “Would I want Hunter and Chase coached by me?” The closer to “yes” that he comes in his answer, the better the job he will be doing.

- Nick Purewal

Borthwick has spent every moment of his life in rugby striving, seeking, pushing. His boys’ names in part underscore his own ambitions, and the attitudes with which he would hope to imbue his children. But, then again, maybe the monikers were simply his Australian wife’s handiwork.

What is not in doubt, though, is that Borthwick’s new era will be tinged with a pastoral care that many found lacking in his authoritarian predecessor, Eddie Jones.

“I’ll coach this team my way,” said Borthwick, fresh from signing a fiveyear deal. “I was asked a question in 2016, ‘Would you want your boys coached by you?’ And that makes you think.