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 it ...

coach who played

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

for Bath and Saracens. At International level, he represented the senior England rugby union team 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. 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 City ...

, 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 Bath in 1998 from Preston Grasshoppers, making his debut against Saracens in December 1998. During this time, he was balancing rugby commitments with study, and graduated from the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

in 2003 with a degree in Economics with Politics. Borthwick had, arguably, his best season for Bath 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 Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

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

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 Leicester Tigers. 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 national rugby league team, 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 fro ...

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 regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in the 2001 Six Nations. He came on as a blood replacement for

Ben Kay Benedict James Kay MBE (born 14 December 1975) is a retired English international rugby union footballer who played Second row forward for Leicester Tigers and . Background Kay was born in Liverpool, the only son of Lord Justice of Appeal Si ...

in the 25–14 win over Australia 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, 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 Australia,

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 and Apolima); ...

. 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 ...

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 Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. However Martin Johnson kept faith in him. In the 2009 Six Nations, 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 country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. However, after performing much better against

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

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. 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 Lewis Walton Moody MBE (born 12 June 1978 in Ascot) is an English retired rugby union player. He played for Leicester Tigers and Bath Rugby and was part of the 2003 World Cup winning side. Moody is known for the enthusiasm with which he pla ...

was given the captaincy. Due to injury, Borthwick was not a member of the

2010 England rugby union tour of Australasia The England national rugby union team, England rugby team's tour of Australasia in the June 2010 saw the team play two tests against Australia national rugby union team, Australia, plus two mid-week games against the Australia A national rugby un ...

. 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 The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...

. From 2012 he was forwards coach alongside Eddie Jones for up to and including the 2015 Rugby World Cup, after which he was confirmed as forwards coach for Bristol Rugby under former Bath colleague

Andy Robinson Richard Andrew Robinson OBE (born 3 April 1964) is an English rugby union coach and retired player. He was the director of rugby at Bristol until November 2016. He is the former head coach of Scotland and England. From September 2019 to Dec ...

. 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 Leicester Tigers 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 Premiership Rugby, top flight English domestic rugby union competition and the third one to be sponsored by Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Gallagher. The reigning champions entering the se ...

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.

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