Who is Steve Borthwick? Career of Leicester Tigers coach set to take over England job from Eddie Jones

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) are expected to name Eddie Jones’ successor this afternoon with Leicester Tigers’ head coach Steve Borthwick set to take over at Twickenham.

The 43-year old has been the front runner for the England job since it was announced earlier this month that Jones had been sacked, following a poor run of results in 2022 that has seen them win just four of their 12 test matches. Although they recorded a 52-13 win over Japan and looked impressive at times in a 25-25 draw with New Zealand during the Autumn Nations series, England also lost at home to Argentina and South Africa.

Jones had been in charge of England since 2015, and managed to win three Six Nations Championships as well as reaching the final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup during his tenure. His dismissal comes less than a year out from the next Rugby World Cup in France, giving Borthwick less time than he might like to prepare for the showpiece event. Here is everything you need to know about man who is set to be named new head coach of the England men’s rugby union side:

Who is Steve Borthwick? Paying and coaching history

Borthwick was a formidable lock forward during his playing career where he turned out for Bath Rugby and Saracens. He made 246 appearances for Bath in a ten year spell between 1998 and 2008 before moving to Saracens where he made 144 appearances before hanging his boots up in 2014.

On the international stage, Borthwick earned 57 caps for England between 2001 and 2010 and captained his country on several occasions. His first cap came in the 2001 Six Nations against France.

Although he was not part of the famous 2003 Rugby World Cup winning squad, it was during this time where he established himself as one of the top players in the Premier Division during an excellent season with Bath. Borthwick did make the England squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, before his international career came to an end in 2010 due to injury.

The Cumbria native began his coaching career in 2012 as an assistant coach with the Japan men’s national side where he worked under Eddie Jones. He followed Jones to Twickenham in 2015 where he was appointed forwards coach and also had a brief stint in the same role for Bristol Rugby.

Borthwick took on his first head coach role with Leicester Tigers in 2020 and finished sixth during his first Premiership campaign, as well as reaching the final of the European Challenge Cup. Things got a lot better in the 2021/22 season where Borthwick led Tigers to the title - their first since 2013.

Borthwick’s side were in European Champions Cup action on Saturday when they beat French side Clermont Auvergne 23-16. After the match, the Tigers’ head coach was asked about the England job and said: “Right now I want to enjoy this win. I couldn’t be more proud of how hard they train and their desire to do well for each other and this club.”