Steve Borthwick is expected to be appointed as England’s new head coach on Monday, according to the PA news agency.
The 43-year-old Leicester boss has been the overwhelming favourite for the national team role since Eddie Jones was sacked earlier this month following a disappointing run of results.
The former England captain's first match in charge of England will be the Six Nations opener against Scotland on 4 February. He leaves the Tigers after two-and-a-half years at the helm and he has won plenty of plaudits along the way for the work he has achieved with the team.
He led them to their first league title since 2013 earlier this year and, before taking over, he spent five years as England's defence coach working under Jones. He also had a three-year stint as defence coach for Japan towards the end of his playing career, which was also under the Australian.
The former Saracens and Bath lock has managed to develop himself as one of the most exciting young coaches around and it has long been expected since Jones' sacking that he would be leaving Tigers for the national team.
He orchestrated Leicester's determined 23-16 win over Clermont Auvergne in the Champions Cup on Saturday but had been unable to confirm if he would still be at the helm for the Premiership match with Gloucester on Christmas Eve, adding further fuel to the rumours.
Borthwick will have some work to do with England after a disappointing run of results led to the sacking of Jones earlier this month. Despite the Australian technically being the most successful coach England had ever had, winning 73 per cent of his matches in charge in just over a seven-year period, recent form has been particularly worrying.
An Autumn internationals defeat to Argentina was particularly damning, while England also lost to South Africa and drew with New Zealand, though they needed a remarkable late comeback in order to achieve that after being outplayed for much of the match.
There will now be much hope for Borthwick's tenure in charge of the England team, with the RFU reportedly being told of his qualities six months ago. Rugby league legend Kevin Sinfield, who now works as Tigers' defence coach, also had huge praise for a man he has come to know incredibly well.
“Steve is one of the best leaders I’ve worked with, if not the best,” he said. “He’s destined for great things. I’ve been in and around a number of international environments, albeit in the other code and, honestly, he’s as good as I’ve seen.
“He’s driven, he’s smart and probably the biggest compliment I can pay him is he cares. To find somebody with all those attributes rolled into one is unique.”
