Some will wonder how he survived this long, but the fact is that Steve Borthwick will only become the fourth England the head coach will reach 50 tests in charge when his team plays Japan in the fifth round Nations Championship at Allianz Park on Saturday.
Recently, in response to accusations in a newspaper article that he had created a toxic environment, Borthwick revealed that some former England head coaches had sent him a private message of support.
Only Sir Clive Woodward (84), Eddie Jones (81) and Stuart Lancaster (52) have led England in more Tests, and you’d assume it was at least one of those three, or Geoff Cooke, whose record of 49 Tests will be surpassed on Saturday, who told him: ‘been there, got the shirt’.
Borthwick was appointed as Eddie Jones’ successor on 19 December 2022, nine months after Rugby World Cup 2023, having previously worked as Jones’ number two, with England and Japan.
At the time, England were ranked fifth in the world, as they are now, but their current ranking score of 86.99 is 3.33 points higher. Perhaps something to hold on to when people wonder if England have made progress under him.
Borthwick’s reign began with a 29-23 home defeat Scotland at the start of the 2023 Six Nations, with Max Mullins scoring the first points and tries under the former England lock and captain.
Ten of the 23 players who featured on the day – Ellis Genge, Jamie George, captain Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum, Ben Curry and Ben Earl in the forwards and Jack van Poortvliet, Marcus Smith, Freddie Steward and Joe Marchant in the backs – are on Borthwick’s current visit to Japan in preparation.
Borthwick only had to wait for his second match to record the first of his 29 wins in charge, a 31-14 home win against Italy, before England followed up with a 20-10 win away to Cardiff.
England were quickly brought down to earth after suffering a record 53-10 humiliation at home to France, followed by a 29-16 defeat by Ireland in Dublin and fourth place in the Championship.
To the surprise of many, England finished third at the 2023 World Cup, losing only to the eventual champions South Africa for a point in the semi-finals.
Borthwick’s stock has undoubtedly risen, but the style of play under him has meant he will be given some leeway if results go wrong.
England moved up to third place in 2024 Six Nations but a 3-0 series loss New Zealand that summer showed how much England had to catch up on the top teams before they could be considered one themselves.
By the end of the year, there were more upsets as England seized the opportunity to beat Australia, losing in a 42-37 thriller at Twickenham, then finishing second best to the Springboks.
England started the 2025 Six Nations with a defeat to Ireland, but a run of four straight wins, two of them by points, has left them just a point behind the champions France in the final ranking.
Victory over Argentina, twice, i USA kept the carriage rolling forward in November, where clean sheets were scored against Australia, Fiji, All black people and Argentina.
When Wales were beaten, 48-7, on Henry Pollock’s memorable debut, England recorded 12 wins on the bounce – the third-longest winning streak in men’s team history.
The euphoria of that run was quickly extinguished, however, when Calcutta’s 30-21 defeat by Scotland was followed by a record 42-21 at home to Ireland, and then Borthwick’s time in charge came to an end, a first defeat against Italy.
England salvaged some pride to lose 48-46 to France in their best display of attacking rugby under Borthwick, but there was no getting away from the fact England suffered their worst ever Six Nations.
The message from the RFU after the internal review was to keep and carry on, with Borthwick given a contract until the end of the Six Nations in 2028.
And since then, England have won three of their first four games at the inaugural Nations Championship.
Borthwick has a win success rate of 59.2% from his 49 Tests as head coach, the lowest of those with as many or more caps, with England scoring 1,445 points and 183 tries and conceding 1,078 points and 133 tries during his tenure.
Woodward, Jones and Cooke have a 70%+ win percentage, while Lancaster, even with a disastrous home World Cup in 2015, have won 63.5% of their 52 Tests.