Stephen William Borthwick (born 12 October 1979) is an English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach who played lock for

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

. At International level, he represented the senior

England rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasion ...

between 2001 and 2010 and captained them between 2008 and 2010. He was appointed the England forwards coach in December 2015; a role which he left in mid 2020 to become head coach of

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

. In December 2022 he was appointed as the England Head Coach.

Club career

Born in

Carlisle, Cumbria Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the Cit ...

, Borthwick was captain of the

Hutton Grammar School Hutton Grammar School is a voluntary aided Church of England day school for boys, with a co-educational Sixth Form. It is located south west of Preston, Lancashire, in Hutton, England. It provides education for boys from the age of 11 to 16, an ...

rugby team, with whom he went on a tour to Australia.

Bath: 1998–2008

Borthwick joined

in 1998 from

Preston Grasshoppers Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team from Preston, Lancashire. The men's senior team play in the RFU National League 2 North, a level 4 league in the RFU league pyramid. History The club was founded on 28 Se ...

, making his debut against

in December 1998. During this time, he was balancing rugby commitments with study, and graduated from the University of Bath in 2003 with a degree in Economics with Politics. Borthwick had, arguably, his best season for

in 2003–04. A central figure in the absence of many senior players due to the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

, he set about making his mark on the Zurich Premiership. Bath made the League Final that season, losing to

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

. He was one of the three nominees for the Zurich Premiership Player of the Year award. In his final game with the club, Borthwick captained Bath to victory in the

2007–08 European Challenge Cup The 2007–08 European Challenge Cup was the 12th year of the European Challenge Cup, the second tier rugby union cup competition below the Heineken Cup. The tournament was held between November 2007 and May 2008. Pool stage Pool 1 Pool 2 P ...

. In January 2008, Borthwick announced that he would be leaving Bath at the end of the 2007–08 season for

Saracens F.C. Saracens Rugby Club () are an English professional rugby union club based in North London, England. As of the current 2022–23 season, they compete in Premiership Rugby, the highest tier competition in English rugby, as well as the domestic P ...

Saracens: 2008–2014

Following his switch to Saracens, Borthwick was named co-captain for the 2008–09 season alongside Andy Farrell. In the 2009–10 season he was named as the captain for Saracens F.C. Injury prevented him from playing for much of the season: he returned for the Guinness Premiership final, but not as captain, as Saracens were defeated by the

. However the following season he started as Saracens won their first Premiership title. On 28 November 2013, Borthwick announced he would be retiring at the end of the 2013-2014 season.

International career

Borthwick first emerged during England's 2000 tour of South Africa. Despite his presence in the line-out, he was not considered heavy enough for international rugby, but later bulked out. A regular choice as the England A team captain, from his debut against

Wales A Wales A , also known as Wales Dragonhearts, is an amateur international rugby league side that competed in the Skanska Amateur Four Nations. The players are picked from the Conference League South clubs and from the domestic competition the So ...

at Wrexham in February 2001, he had already played on the full tour of South Africa the previous summer. Injury prevented him from being considered for the 2002 trip to Argentina. Borthwick made his debut for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the

2001 Six Nations The 2001 Six Nations Championship was the second series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, and the 107th international championship overall. The tournament was affected by an outbreak of the highly infectious livestock disease foot-and-m ...

. He came on as a blood replacement for Ben Kay in the 25–14 win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in Melbourne in June 2003, his sixth cap. A member of England's wider 2003 World Cup squad, he narrowly missed selection to the final 30. He regained his place in the

squad after the 2003 World Cup and despite England's disappointing results, Borthwick was given credit for his solid play. Borthwick initially failed to make England's squad for the 2005

Autumn internationals The autumn internationals, November internationals, end-of-year tests, and spring internationals/tour for Australia and New Zealand, are men's rugby union Test matches that are contested around November each year. It is organised by World Rugby. Te ...

, with Gloucester forward Alex Brown seemingly poised for a start instead, but injury ruled Brown out of contention and Borthwick stepped in, playing a significant role against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

. Borthwick was selected as a member of the England 2007 Rugby World Cup squad. He played in three Group matches, starting against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. He did not participate in the knockout games.

Captaincy

On 10 February 2008 Borthwick was named captain for England's

2008 Six Nations The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

match against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in Rome, and on 13 May 2008 he was chosen to captain the full England squad on their 2008 summer tour of New Zealand. In October 2008 he was named as Martin Johnson's first England captain for the 2008 Autumn Internationals. Borthwick came in for a lot of criticism after England's disappointing 2008 Autumn Internationals in which they suffered heavy defeats to

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. However Martin Johnson kept faith in him. In the

2009 Six Nations The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national ...

, Borthwick came under more criticism as England's discipline cost them victories against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. However, after performing much better against

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in the last two weeks of the tournament, Borthwick's critics seemed to leave him alone.

End of international career

In January 2010, Borthwick was confirmed as England captain for the

2010 Six Nations The 2010 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2010 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 11th series of the Six Nations Championship and the 116th international championship, an annual rugby union competition be ...

. After England's 15–15 draw against Scotland in the 2010 Six Nations, Borthwick aggravated an ongoing knee injury and sought medical advice. This meant he was unavailable for selection against France so Tom Palmer was bought in as cover and Lewis Moody was given the captaincy. Due to injury, Borthwick was not a member of the

2010 England rugby union tour of Australasia The England rugby team's tour of Australasia in the June 2010 saw the team play two tests against Australia, plus two mid-week games against the Australian Barbarians (essentially Australia A) and a final match against New Zealand Māori. Th ...

. On 1 July 2010, he was dropped from the Elite Player Squad by Martin Johnson.

Coaching career

Borthwick trained as a coach, taking his initial position in-club from 2012 whilst playing with Saracens, and also attending the University of Hertfordshire. From 2012 he was forwards coach alongside Eddie Jones for up to and including the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

, after which he was confirmed as forwards coach for

Bristol Rugby Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

under former Bath colleague Andy Robinson. On 15 December 2015, he was confirmed as England Forwards coach. In October 2019, it was reported by

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

that Borthwick's next role would be with

following the 2019 Rugby World Cup. It was later confirmed he would join the club as head coach for the

2020–21 Premiership Rugby The 2020–21 Gallagher Premiership was the 34th season of the top flight English domestic rugby union competition and the third one to be sponsored by Gallagher. The reigning champions entering the season were Exeter Chiefs, who had claimed their ...

season. Next season, Borthwick led the Tigers to their eleventh Premiership title during the 2021–22 season. On 19 December 2022, it was announced that Borthwick would take over as head coach of the England men's rugby team, replacing

Eddie Jones Edward, Eddie, or Ed Jones may refer to: Architecture * Edward Vason Jones (1909–1980), American neoclassical architect * Edward Jones (English architect) (born 1939), English architect who designed the Saïd Business School * Edward Jones (Wel ...

Personal life

Borthwick is married and has two sons.

References

External links

Saracens profileBath profilePremiership profileEngland profileSteve Borthwick photo 1 by sportingheroes. netSteve Borthwick photo 2 by sportingheroes. net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borthwick, Steve 1979 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bath Alumni of the University of Hertfordshire Bath Rugby players England international rugby union players English people of Scottish descent English rugby union coaches English rugby union players Lancashire County RFU players Leicester Tigers coaches People educated at Hutton Grammar School Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Carlisle, Cumbria Saracens F.C. players Team Bath rugby union players