RFU back Steve Borthwick to stay as England head coach until after 2028 Six Nations

Steve Borthwick enters England’s autumn Nations Championship campaign with the full backing of the Rugby Football Union, after CEO Bill Sweeney publicly ruled out any possibility of the head coach leaving before the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

Borthwick’s contract was extended by eight months two months ago, pushing his tenure beyond the World Cup and through the 2028 Six Nations — a decision made despite England suffering their worst-ever Six Nations campaign earlier this year, which included a historic first defeat to Italy.

“We’re committed to Steve,” Sweeney said. “We’ve extended his contract until the middle of 2028. We believe in what he’s doing. We had a difficult Six Nations this year, we accept that, but we just want to see continued progress and we’re backing him to get that done.”

The extension stands in contrast to the fate of Borthwick’s predecessor Eddie Jones, who was sacked by the RFU in 2022 after an autumn series that produced just one win in four Tests. Sweeney, who made the call to dismiss Jones following losses to Argentina and South Africa and a draw with New Zealand, was emphatic that no such outcome awaits Borthwick.

Some pressure had eased on Borthwick over the summer after England defeated Fiji and Argentina on their July tour, though the series opened with a heavy loss to South Africa. He now prepares his squad for Sunday’s Nations Championship opener against Australia at Allianz Stadium.

Sweeney explained the rationale behind extending Borthwick’s deal beyond the World Cup, drawing a parallel with how performance directors in Olympic sport are typically contracted.

“We just felt that going into a World Cup is a tough enough challenge anyway,” Sweeney said. “We wanted our coaching team to be focused just on the World Cup, not be thinking ‘Oh, I don’t have a role lined up.’ It was to take away any distraction around that and transition the same coaching team into the 2028 Six Nations. That was the sole intention.”

Sweeney also confirmed that succession planning for the post-Borthwick era is “looked at continually,” though no timeline or candidates were discussed publicly.

England face Australia, Japan, and New Zealand this autumn before the inaugural Nations Championship finals weekend at Twickenham in late November, where northern and southern hemisphere sides meet according to their pool standings, with July results also factored into the standings.