Rugby-England appoint Borthwick as head coach to replace sacked Jones

England have named former captain Steve Borthwick as head coach to replace Eddie Jones who was dismissed earlier this month, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said in a statement on Monday.

The 43-year-old, who worked under Jones with Japan and later England, had been the strong favourite to take up the position after the Australian's sacking and leaves his role as head coach of Premiership club Leicester Tigers. "I'm deeply honoured to be appointed England head coach and I am very excited by the challenge," Borthwick said.

"The English game is full of talent and I want to build a winning team which makes the most of our huge potential and inspires young people to fall in love with rugby union the way I did." Former Saracens and Bath lock Borthwick, who made 57 test appearances for England and retired from playing in 2014, was the forwards coach of the national team from 2015 to 2020 and gained a reputation as an exciting young mentor in the game.