THE most decorated, in-demand English coaches are all in France this week. The Rugby World Cup starts tonight, so of course they are. The problem is that not one of them is coaching the England rugby team.
Steve Borthwick is England boss, hurriedly thrust into the role in December when Eddie Jones was sacked for at least two wretched years - but in alarmist fashion given the proximity of the World Cup.
RFU chiefs insist Borthwick was their long-term target, and the overwhelming first choice for the role after interviewing and canvassing the views of a whopping 57 global rugby brains. Leading English lights Shaun Edwards, Andy Farrell, Mike Catt and Stuart Lancaster are all strutting their stuff in France.
That none of them would be in the frame for a role with England speaks volumes about the RFU's disarray under chief executive Bill Sweeney.
Defence supremo Edwards could spur hosts France to their first World Cup title, Farrell and Catt coach the world's top-ranked team in Ireland and Lancaster has just joined Parisian aristocrat club Racing 92. All four have slipped through RFU fingers with varying degrees of absurdity, which bites all the harder given England's chaotic World Cup preparation.
Borthwick led Leicester to the 2022 Gallagher Premiership title, and was forwards coach when England reached the 2019 World Cup final. The 43-yearold former England captain is doubtless a coach of great promise.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 08, 2023 من Evening Standard.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 08, 2023 من Evening Standard.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
The era of longevity is almost upon us. But can our minds really keep up?
A post-ageing world is just around the corner, says longevity scientist AUBREY DE GREY, and it’s going to change the way we live
Hidden London
SECRET SPOTS YOU SIMPLY HAVE TO DISCOVER
How Christian Louboutin fell in love with Melides in Portugal
The wild beauty of this seaside village charmed the French fashion designer so much that he made it his home
Actor Millie Bobby Brown romances in Hyde Park, feasts at Sheesh and buys thelot at Harrods
Interview with Actor Millie Bobby Brown
How will Arteta manage without influential Edu?
Arsenal need smooth transition between eras just like Man City
"I had no one in Manchester apart from my PlayStation"
Aaron Wan-Bissaka was a young man rated among the country's most promising footballers when Manchester United came calling in the summer of 2019.
The battle for the soul of Soho
Inside the war between London's porn baron family and the council they say is killing the vibe
At the table: Sad steaks seasoned with despair
Fetch the smelling salts, you're in for a shock: A Restaurant Critic Hates a Famously Terrible Restaurant. Low-hanging fruit? Perhaps.
Class portrait Nobody else writes about middle England so acutely
Tessa Hadley's first novella depicts women in refreshing ways
How a tiny cult radio station in Hackney took over the world
I think the most obscure place I've had a listener email from so far was probably a guy in the Yukon,\" laughs Flo Dill, the host of NTS Radio's flagship morning show.