When Steve Borthwick declared this week that English rugby had “turned a corner”, ears perked up. It wasn’t on par with Bill Sweeney’s bizarre claim during the World Cup, with Jersey Reds having just become the fourth club in 12 months to hit the wall, that “we are on the cusp of something spectacular”, but it was as an exaggerated red-pink assessment of the landscape.
The suggestion was that with his new captain Jamie George committing his future to Saracens, the exodus of England internationals to France is drying up. He went on to explain that “we’ve all had quite a bit of time to see how English rugby has gone over the last few years. We see the turnout and the atmosphere on the site. We see how competitive they are in Europe. You see the nature of Premiership rugby, how many good teams there are now. There are maybe eight teams that can make the top four. That’s important, because then every game is important. That happens at Test level. You have to be at your best every match. I think that’s important.”
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Accordingly, he has rewarded domestic form with his chosen group for the Six Nations – perhaps the most significant difference between this side and that of his predecessor Eddie Jones is that there is no one who feels particularly badly affected by being overlooked seen – but there remain There are many reasons to doubt his claim.
For starters, Owen Farrell’s impending departure to Racing 92 and its protracted nature continues to cast a cloud. George is a fine choice for captain and while Ellis Genge’s hamstring injury may have made it an easier decision, Borthwick has once again shown his adaptability by turning to the extremely popular Saracens hooker rather than one of his vice-captains at the World Cup. George is, crucially, someone who connects with the English audience and so it’s a smart choice, albeit one that hardly screams new broom.
And while there are many new faces in the England squad, Borthwick have been forced into change by circumstances with a number of retirements and the aforementioned exodus to France – ultimately the extent of the overhaul will be judged at team selection. Looking over his squad, he could field a starting XV with plenty of new blood or one full of familiar faces. In other words, it appears he’s hedging his bets for now, approaching the corner rather than turning it, and George is a captain who reflects that.
He is also a useful choice for the Rugby Football Union as he is one of the few players to have been offered an enhanced contract for next season. Borthwick have been granted a license to offer them to out-of-contract players at the end of the season – Maro Itoje will soon be confirmed as another – but uncertainty remains over how they will work in practical terms, apart from guaranteeing players of approximately £150,000 per season.
It was Saracens who announced that George had been given an improved contract, but when asked this week to explain its significance, director of rugby Mark McCall was unable to do so. “You’ll have to ask people higher up than me.” It’s a view echoed in the Premier League with Sale’s Alex Sanderson, who when asked this week if he had any further clarity, said: “None, it’s related to the [Professional Game Partnership]. It is certainly not a process that has been agreed upon by Prem Rugby, the RPA and/or the RFU, so it is all up in the air at this point.”
That the most important aspect of the new Professional Game Partnership remains a mystery hardly says anything about a new chapter for English rugby. The players, led by George, Genge, Joe Marler, Anthony Watson and Itoje, have taken matters into their own hands when it comes to negotiating their future and commercial rights away from the Rugby Players’ Association, which was announced this week that she had fought successfully. compensation for its members from Worcester, Wasps and London Irish. When a car accident like that is so close in the rearview mirror, it is impossible to go around the bend.
It is clear that it suits the RFU that England’s new captain is someone who has been successfully persuaded to stay in the country – George is said to have previously been close to agreeing a move to the Top 14 – but Farrell appears to be on his way, Henry Arundell has turned down an improved contract to stay at Racing, while Kyle Sinckler and Billy Vunipola are expected to move abroad at the end of the season. Apparently the steady stream is not drying up yet.
Sinckler and Vunipola have been left out of Borthwick’s squad. In their places are Leicester’s Joe Heyes and Harlequins’ Alex Dombrandt, but it is seven Northampton players, five from Bath and three from Exeter who stand out. When Borthwick points to what he has seen in the Premier League as a reason for optimism, he is referring to those clubs. Harlequins complete a quartet that currently makes up the top four. They have all also qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions Cup with a round to spare, and while that is by no means an exact science, that bodes well for the Six Nations.
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There are several theories as to why Premier League clubs perform better in the Champions Cup. The loss of three clubs has concentrated talent among fewer teams and with four of the six teams from each group advancing to the knockout stages, coaches can choose when to play at full strength. It is clear that, with Toulouse the obvious exception, France’s World Cup disappointment is also having an impact on their clubs.
Whatever the reasons, it is far from inconceivable that the Premier League has seven sides in the last 16, with Saracens, Leicester and Sale all staging crunch clashes this weekend. Perhaps these three games, against a fickle Lyon team and the two finalists of the past two seasons in Leinster and La Rochelle, will prove whether this is a revival campaign for the Premier League. For all that Northampton, Bath, Exeter and Harlequins have caught the eye, Saracens, Leicester and Sale are likely to form the backbone of Borthwick’s starting XV, so it’s a big weekend for England too.