Ask yourself: What was the most significant event that happened in English rugby during the summer? Will Stewart return to fitness after the Achilles rupture he suffered in December? Or young superstar Henry Pollock re-committing his future to English rugby after signing a new contract at Northampton? Or is it an extension of the contract, supposedly until 2028 England men’s head coach Steve Borthwick?
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All three cases were established. The absence of Stuart and his young partner in crime Finn Baxter from the front row was one of the main reasons why the Red Rose fell apart so dramatically in the Six Nations. Both starting props, Ellis Genge and Joe Heyes had to play too many minutes without the brains and weight of Stuart and Baxter to replace them off the bench.
The trajectory of Pollock’s contract negotiations with the Saints offered a glimpse into one possible future for the game of rugby. Tyro is signed to Eddie Hearn’s talent agency, and Hearn is better known for recruiting boxers like Anthony Joshua and Katie Taylor or MMA champions like Tom Aspinall among his promoters. It signaled that Pollock did not identify himself solely as a rugby player, or as one who plies his trade in England.
Borthwick’s contract extension showed the RFU envisages a phased succession plan, perhaps for the first time since Sir Clive Woodward held the reins at back-to-back World Cups in 1999 and 2003. RFU director Conor O’Shea was keen to ensure seamless continuity. “You don’t want coaches looking for work going to the World Cup,” he told BBC Sport this month. “You can’t have a coaching group going in with that uncertainty, especially when you’re looking at the timing. So we’re going to give that certainty, and that’s going to give us time to take a good look.”
Until the end Nations Championship this November, Borthwick will become only the fourth England manager to oversee more than 50 games, following in the footsteps of Geoff Cooke, Woodward and the enigmatic Eddie Jones.
But the most intriguing answer to the original question is related to that RFU succession planning process. Last week it was announced that former France, Wales and British and Irish Lions defense coach Shaun Edwards had linked up with John Mitchell and his Red Roses in the women’s game. This is the first time Edwards has worked with his country of birth internationally and it is 20 years too late.
The one and only occasion on which ‘the greatest coach England never had’ was invited to join the men’s set-up was when Andy Robinson offered him the role of assistant in 2006. At the time, Edwards was recovering from the traumatic death of his younger brother, and he respectfully declined. Many years later, under Jones, Mitchell himself served as defensive coach.
“To be honest, I don’t think they’ve liked (me) much over the years,” Edwards said back in 2018. “It’s as simple as that. They’re entitled to their opinion and if they believe John Mitchell is a better defensive coach than I am, good luck to them.”
Now the two work together, and between them have by far the largest tranche of international experience anywhere in the English game. No one else comes close. Edwards began his international coaching career with Wales in 2008, 18 years ago; Mitchell started as forwards coach at Woodward’s England in 1997.
This in turn increases the possibility of formulating a clear ‘plan B’ if things go really badly in November and at next year’s Six Nations. If Borthwick fails catastrophically, it is not too far-fetched to predict that the Mitchell-Edwards axis will be imported from the women’s game to the men’s in extremis.
Although Warren Gatland’s former coaching ally is only attached to the Red Roses game on a short-term consultancy basis, the most important fact is that Elvis is finally in the building. There is no doubt that Wigan’s favorite son will make a huge impact on his charges – he always does – and equally, that they are ready to welcome him.
There were definite signs in the recent 26-26 draw against Canada that England would benefit enormously from a defensive coach of Edwards’ stature, as well as the type of defense he teaches.
When you look at the back line defense, you start with an assessment of number 13. The center for the Red Roses is Meg Jones, a very physical defender and outstanding player who has had a total of five turnovers in the last two knockout games at the 2025 World Cup against France (in the semi-finals) and Canada (in the final). Cardiff-born Jones really is a thinly disguised fire-breathing dragon. She wants to drive and hit, not sit and read, and she wants to compete in the match after the ball hits the ground. She’s a perfect fit for a defense that Edwards likes to run.
Regardless of the numbers they looked to pack into the wide channels to combat the strength of Canada’s attack on the edges, England always looked vulnerable in that part of the pitch.
Once the ball gets past Jones (in the box), there are no fewer than four England defenders in cover around super-dangerous Canadian full-back Asia Hogan-Rochester, including a blindside winger and a scrum-half in the second layer of defence. It didn’t work against Canada.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 20, 2026
With Edwards coaching the D, Jones would look to hit the passer late in the game instead of tracking him laterally for a touchdown and prevent Hogan-Rochester from getting the ball on first down.
Edwards makes so much sense as England’s defense coach in both the men’s and women’s games. It can sharpen the edge of the women’s defense and turn skating into chasing, or it can continue the work that had to be abandoned in the men’s version when Felix Jones unexpectedly jumped ship just seven months into his contract in August 2024. There are big bonuses everywhere you look.
The most important game of the second weekend WXV Global Series featured the reigning world champions against six-time winners the Black Ferns. Edwards’ influence was immediately evident, nowhere more so than in the aggressive frontal attack of Jones herself.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 27, 2026
The Black Ferns got the game they wanted and the game their male equivalent would have honestly wished for in the recent series against South Africa. They made a whopping 169 tackles and forced the Red Roses into over 280 tackles, in a match with 44 minutes of playing time. England’s new defense was up to the task: 12 of the Kiwis’ 15 entries at home, 22 ended in turnovers, with New Zealand posting a measly 1.3 points per entry. Red roses passed the ‘alpha test’ very well.
As Jones noted afterwards: “Shaun doesn’t say a lot of words, but you listen when he does. His approach was to put as much pressure on the Black Ferns as possible, to make them basically force their game.”
“So that’s the goal of the game – try to counter in the face, make them play early and it puts us in a better position. I feel like we did that really well.”
Instead of soaking in wide channels as they did against Canada, England stepped – literally and figuratively – into the lanes between passer and receiver.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 27, 2026
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 27, 2026
In the final game of the game, the Black Ferns have a choice between trying to pull their collective hands from deep or a draw like Canada did a week earlier. They decide to roll the dice and Zoe Harrison comes out of the backfield to make the game winning interception as the ball moves into the 15-5m zone. You could imagine the cheeky grin of Wiganer in the stands without any problems.
High-profile coaches who are voluntarily offered contract extensions in any sport have a nasty habit of being bad. Nothing in life is certain except death and taxes, and a role in national organization may fall into the lap of the man who undoubtedly deserves it the most. England fans across the country will rise as one, saying the four little words they’ve been waiting so long to say: ‘in Shaun we believe’.
