Wales boss Warren Gatland has revealed the incredible story of how new England coach Steve Borthwick was forced to do TWO jobs on the Lions tour to New Zealand.
As well as acting as a Lions forwards coach for the three-Test battle with New Zealand, a full-on role in itself, Borthwick was also being asked by Eddie Jones to analyse England's games against Argentina via video which were going on simultaneously.
Gatland says it is a demand he would never have made of one of his own coaches, particularly as a 16-hour time difference between New Zealand and Argentina made matters even more complicated, but was full of admiration for the way Borthwick got on with the gruelling double task without complaining.
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He is tipping him to take England back towards the top, suggesting that the Red Rose underachieved under Jones who was dismissed following a woeful run of results.
With the finance and playing resource available at Twickenham, Gatland says England should always be among the most powerful two or three nations in world rugby. They end 2022 down in fifth place, lagging behind Ireland, France, New Zealand and South Africa.
Lions chief Gatland handpicked Borthwick as one of his backroom team for that 2017 tour to face the world champions in their own backyard, the Lions drawing 1-1 with New Zealand.
"I was already hugely impressed by the detail and analysis he had brought to the English lineout, which was evident from when I was coaching Wales," Gatland writes in a Telegraph column. "Indeed, it was during that time that I first formulated the game plan whenever we faced England to avoid giving them any lineouts because it had become such a dominant feature of their attacking game.
"But what I did not know until that Lions tour was just how deep his well of diligence and resilience ran. The amount of detail and analysis that was required on that tour if we were to have any chance of beating the All Blacks was incredible.
"What has not been disclosed before is that during the tour, on top of his day job with us, Jones had also asked him to review England’s games on their tour of Argentina at the same time and provide feedback to him despite the 16-hour time difference.
"I remember thinking: ‘Wow, I would never expect that from one of my coaches.’ He ended up working night and day to get all the things that he had to do completed. It was really tough for him, and I felt for him. He ended up doing two jobs on a Lions tour.
"While it meant that we rarely saw him for a beer in the team hotel in the evenings, what struck me was the fact that he never uttered a word of complaint but just got on with it, night after night. It must have been a gruelling experience."
Gatland goes on to say he hopes he was able to offer Borthwick guidance on man management during the Lions tour, pointing out there are so many other things he will need to focus upon after becoming England's main man.
He also offered Borthwick one golden coaching tip, saying it was something Jones got wrong with England.
"My biggest piece of advice for Steve is to make sure that he gets the right people in place around him, coaches that he wants and trusts, support, and establishes the sense of continuity and stability that was missing under Eddie because of the constant churn in staff and players," says Gatland.
He points out it can be good to make changes to your coaching team. "But you also want people around you whom you trust implicitly and are also comfortable in challenging you as well as a happy environment for the players to bring the best out of them," writes Gatland.
"If you look at the amount of talent in England and the resources of the RFU, in my view they should always be one of the top two or three sides in the world. In fairness to Eddie, his win ratio and record of success was pretty good, but the criticism stemmed from the rollercoaster ride that you just would not expect from one of the most powerful nations in world rugby."
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