No more hybrids or square pegs / round holes…there are multiple quality players in most positions (bar 9) if one’s injured you look at the next one - you only have to look at Borthwick to say ‘dont try to be clever Steve, its not your thing’
And that is the heart of my problem with him. By all accounts he considers himself to be a tactical thinker and elite level coach and the RFU apparently consider him as one of the best 'minds' in the game but either they're all wrong or something else gets in the way and makes him default to coaching and tactics that are clearly sub-par. As I've said, I think he's just terrified of conceding points and makes every decision based on defensive stability, which means when teams figure you out not only do you have no attack but you're also able to be picked apart and teams score record points totals against you. It's a lot like Steve Bruce, people will claim that it's pragmatic and is setting things up to be better later but that only works if there aren't plenty of other people just as smart as you are but who are more focused on scoring against you than stopping you score. Townsend and Farrell are clearly 2 of those, which is why both of them have regularly beaten Borthwick with squads that are pretty comparable (but with less depth).
The most common word used to describe Borthwick the player was probably "yeoman", and I have seen nothing in his tenure as England head coach to make me use any other word to describe Borthwick the coach. It's just meat and potatoes stuff.
But i wouldn't swap a win vs France for a change of coach. Beating them on their own patch and denying them the 6N would be a hoot.
I would….the only way England get anything positive out of this 6N is if the next time they kick off he isnt the coach. I think the only jeopardy in the game is which of the French back 3 score the most tries in the game.
He’s like an old school tie committee choice of the 1980’s rather than an elite coach who innovates and evolves with the game….he doesn’t even have a style that reflects the league that his player pool play in.
