Steve Borthwick said he aims to “get supporters roaring and keep them roaring” after succeeding Eddie Jones as England’s head coach.
The 43-year-old Borthwick has signed a five-year contract after leaving Leicester Tigers, with Kevin Sinfield also departing Welford Road to become England’s defence coach. Borthwick is set to recruit the rest of his backroom team in the coming weeks.
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His contract is set to run until after the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, but his urgent priority is to prepare for the 2023 Six Nations. England begin their campaign against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday 4 February.
“This incredible sport that we love, it has such power,” Borthwick said at Twickenham on Monday. “What I want to do is make sure that this team is one uses that power to get kids to fall in love with the game.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, and that’s not going to happen overnight. But I think we’ve got a great group of players. We’ve got experienced players, I think we’ve got young players emerging that have such incredible talent, and that makes me really excited.”
Before taking over at Leicester, Borthwick worked as forwards coach with England’s senior side under Jones and also worked with the Australian for Japan’s national team leading up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, as assistant coach.
The former second-row’s playing career included 10 years at Bath and six seasons with Saracens. Borthwick was part of England’s World Cup-winning squad in 2003 and became England captain in 2008 when Martin Johnson was head coach.
He won 57 international caps and played nearly 400 domestic games before retiring from playing in 2014.
