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Gavin Mairs Chief Rugby Union Correspondent, in Paris 22 October 2023 4:12pm BST Steve Borthwick’s future in the wake of England’s World Cup campaign looks set to be shaped by doing the

opposite of what Eddie Jones would do. Jones’s decision to jettison experienced heads such as Quade Cooper and Michael Hooper and take wild punts on rookies such as fly-half Carter Gordon

backfired wretchedly. It was a decision not lost on Borthwick. The England head coach, given just nine Test matches with a fledgling coaching team to forge a new squad this year, decided

England’s best chance of success was to squeeze the very last drop out of veterans available to him, and how he did. It was significant to note that on Saturday night England fielded a squad

that had a similar average age and slightly more caps (1,323 to 1,262) against the defending champions. A front row of Joe Marler, Jamie George and Dan Cole brought a combined 275 caps’

experience into the semi-final, with Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Owen Farrell and Jonny May also exceeding 70 Test appearances, and how it nearly paid off. England did not trail in the match

but for two minutes - the two most important in their agonising yet admirable defeat. It says much about the state of English rugby, however, that almost 12 months after the sacking of

Jones, the Australian still seems to be influencing decisions from afar about the future of the national side. It is remarkable to consider that this time last year Jones was still telling

anyone who would listen that his England side were on course to win the World Cup. Then a few months later he would then be telling anyone who would listen that Australia would win the World

Cup. Now we know that neither prediction came to pass, even if England came closer to reaching the final than many expected. What Borthwick has learned from Jones’ scorched-earth policy

with the Wallabies is that it is laced with more risk and rewards. It was Alan Hansen, the former Liverpool captain, who famously said you can’t win anything with kids. If it was a quote

that backfired - as Manchester United did exactly that with their Premier League triumph in 1996 - it seems that Borthwick’s vision for the next couple of years at least will be to verge on

Hansen’s philosophy, not that of Sir Alex Ferguson or latterly Jones. BORTHWICK TO TARGET EVOLUTION, NOT REVOLUTION England supporters can expect to see an element of the changing of the

guard when the squad reassembles in January ahead of the Six Nations Championship, but what is certain is that it will not be a dramatic and radical overhaul of the squad. Some players may

decide to call time on their own international careers, but we are unlikely to see the likes of Danny Care, Ben Youngs, May and Cole retained. But it is understood that Borthwick’s intention

will be evolution, not revolution, opting to infuse players into an experienced team capable of winning big Test matches, which is likely to see a second tier of veteran players – such as

Lawes, Joe Marler and Billy Vunipola given mentoring roles. And what of the coaching team itself? Borthwick, encouragingly, has not been afraid to call out the failings of the previous

tenure, even if it might not always make comfortable reading for the Rugby Football Union board that tolerated the excesses and management failings of Jones’ reign. If he lacks the extrovert

personality of his predecessor, his meticulous planning and attention to detail managed to get England, against all the odds, to a World Cup semi-final. One insider described him as a ‘Pep

Guardiola’ with data. In achieving that target, he has guaranteed his long-term future both with the RFU and bought some time at least with England’s long-suffering supporters. What he needs

going forward is an advocate-general with a personality to engage the media and send messages to players and supporters alike. It is tempting to think what an all-embracing and engaging

impact someone like David Flatman, one of Borthwick’s former team-mates and trusted lieutenants at Bath, might have on the squad and wider public relations. Word from inside the camp

suggests that this role may yet be filled by Aled Walters, England’s current head of strength and conditioning, who has emerged as a key leadership personality during this World Cup campaign

in France. It was Walters, in his former role, who ensured the Springboks peaked physically to defeat England in the 2019 final in Japan. He later joined Leicester when Borthwick became

head coach in 2020, and now the Welshman is not only working his magic in terms of conditioning but also as both a sounding board for Borthwick and the players. It will be fascinating to see

if he emerges in the new year as a figurehead for the squad. SINFIELD EXPECTED TO MOVE ON FROM ENGLAND ROLE The coaching set-up will also be bolstered by the recruitment of Felix Jones, the

Irishman who is currently the defence coach with the Springboks for the last five years. Felix Jones is a coach obsessed with detail in a similar fashion to Borthwick – it was his defensive

strategy that plotted the downfall of Farrell in the 2019 final. And his arrival in January will almost certainly see Kevin Sinfield, England’s current defence coach who joined the set-up

from Leicester with Borthwick but has lacked the experience to make a significant impact on the Test stage, move on as part of a mutual agreement. Borthwick wants his new, younger side to

develop a hard-nosed, winning mentality, with the belief that the developing players will grow to Test-match level more rapidly in that environment and culture. There is a feeling that a

pivot to youth would be severely detrimental to their development given the brutal physical environment of the Test arena, with a blend key to avoid the implosion that Australia have

endured. The mindless gutting of England’s pathway system between 2016 to 2018 may have seriously impeded the supply line to the senior national side. And yet for the first time in many

years there is a sense of optimism that finally a generation of young guns coming through, such as Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Olly Hartley (Saracens), Joe Woodward (Leicester

Tigers), Seb Atkinson (Gloucester), Alfie Barbeary (Bath) and Josh Hodge, who scored a hat-trick for Exeter Chiefs last weekend, have the talent to be moulded carefully into Test players.

Lewis Chessum, younger brother of England starter Ollie, Northampton’s Fin Smith and Tom Pearson, Cadan Murley and Will Porter (both Harlequins) are also well thought of. Borthwick has been

monitoring their progress closely and with his strategic plan to have three players of Test match quality competing for each position in his starting XV, their development will be key for

the next World Cup cycle. These young players will supplement the inexperienced group that has already broken into the Test squad, most notably Ollie Chessum, Ben Earl, Theo Dan and George

Martin. FARRELL INFLUENCE TO CONTINUE Perhaps most significantly of all, the standard-bearer for the next four-year cycle is most likely to be Owen Farrell. Whether the Saracens fly-half

retains the captaincy all the way to the World Cup in Australia in 2027 remains to be seen. But given the physical conditioning of the 32-year-old, and the way he looks after his body, it is

thought that Borthwick believes Farrell will play a key role in the next cycle, similar fashion to that leadership and game management influence that Johnny Sexton delivered for Ireland

over the last four years. The depth of the front five is an ongoing concern but Borthwick is thought to be optimistic that the RFU’s specialist front-row and second-row clinics designed to

unearth players with the physical and mental attributes to become stand-out players will bear fruit. “We now have props that can run nine metres per second,” said Jonathan Pendlebury,

England Under-18s head coach. “We have hookers who are fantastic decision-makers. We’ve got 6ft 9in locks who can jump high, run fast and defend and clear-out with low body heights. The game

is changing that way. It’s not an area that has been forgotten about, just enhanced.”