How England can build on their unexpected World Cup success: Thrill the fans, nurture the kids and copy the French revolution!

• England achieved a surprise bronze medal in France but still have work to do
• Steve Borthwick will lead the move forwards with the RFU ‘fully supportive’
• They also need to replace outgoing players and re-connect with their supporters 

England have returned home from the World Cup with bronze medals after a campaign which went far better than expected.

While they drew criticism for a lack of creative ambition, they won six games out of seven — and the solitary defeat was by a single point against eventual champions South Africa.

Now, with several veterans retiring and others moving abroad, Steve Borthwick has to oversee a transition.

Despite an honourable third-place finish here, the RFU are aware there is a huge amount of work to do at all levels of the English game, as was apparent when union chief executive Bill Sweeney reflected on the World Cup and what lies ahead…

England picked up the bronze medal at the Rugby World Cup – a greater success than had been expected of them

They beat Argentina 26-23 in the bronze medal match on Saturday after losing by a point to winners South Africa in the semi-final

There is still a lot to work on at all levels of the English game, and the RFU must plan how to move forwards

Borthwick backed

Having only taken over at the end of last year, Borthwick inherited a mess and — after a slow start — instigated a revival. His employers are happy to endorse the head coach and his regime.

Sweeney said: ‘We’re fully supportive of Steve. We said it was a long-term commitment and he’s done a great job. The meticulous way he goes about preparing the team showed through.

‘Coming into the World Cup, there wasn’t a huge amount of optimism. We did a brilliant job of managing expectations! But Steve has been amazingly calm. Even when we lost those warm-ups, he had a very clear trajectory of where he wanted to get to and by when.

‘What he did was get the maximum out of that squad. It’s been a very happy camp. The players feel relaxed, but also Steve is a professor when it comes to his analysis of the game. You won’t find anyone who works harder.

‘That combination of players feeling comfortable in his set-up, and knowing he’s got a really firm hand on the tiller — I think he’s had a really positive impact.’

The RFU are ‘fully supportive’ of head coach Steve Borthwick (right) who inherited a mess when appointed in December 2022

World Cup debrief

So what happens next? First, Borthwick will gather his assistants to reflect on France. Within minutes of the bronze final last Friday night, he was casting his mind ahead.

‘I’ve already started looking forward to the Six Nations,’ he said. ‘That’s started in my planning; the very early stages. I make notes as we go — the whole time. I’ll compile that in the next two weeks, then I’ll meet the management team to do a review.’

Borthwick will report to his RFU bosses, who will also seek feedback from England players. ‘We do a review after every competition,’ said Sweeney. ‘We will do that review before the end of the year. We’ll let the dust settle now. We’ll let them (coaches and players) have some time off.

‘There will be a panel, again, who will come in. I know there’s been a lot of criticism of why it is anonymous, but we will have a panel. Players will be interviewed to get their feedback. Then we will present that to the board.’

RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney has said the union will conduct a review of the World Cup after the dust has settled

Borthwick has said he has already started looking forwards to the Six Nations early next year

Improve the pathway

England have to bring through a new generation of talent to replace the likes of Courtney Lawes, Ben Youngs, Jonny May — and others reaching the end of their Test careers. That difficult process will shine a harsh light on the issue of player development at domestic level. There is an awareness at the RFU that the system needs to be enhanced.

Sweeney said: ‘It’s in all of our interests to have a successful international team and to have better quality club players. We’ve got some great talent coming through. If you look at our Under 18 and Under 19 results this year, we beat France 41-0, we beat Wales 60-14 and we beat Ireland 56-14.

‘A lot of our young players just aren’t getting enough game-time. One thing we are having positive conversations with PRL (Premiership Rugby) about is that if you have one club with an abundance of hookers, for example, and other clubs who don’t, we have to look at how we can move them around, to get positional strength in depth. It is tricky, but I think we will be able to achieve that.’

England have to bring through a new generation of players to replace the likes of Courtney Lawes (left) and Ben Youngs (right), who are retiring from England duty

Copy the French!

Sweeney is prepared to take inspiration from the recent revolution which has taken place on the other side of the Channel.

Not so long ago, Gallic rugby was in a state; struggling and divided, but they have turned a corner and moved on to a golden era at Test and club level. In the corridors of power at Twickenham, they have been taking note. ‘We’ve seen what has happened in France,’ said the chief executive. ‘They have built their success on a crop of young players like Antoine Dupont who have come through. They have carefully nurtured those players — winning Under 20 matches.’

So would the RFU seek advice from exiled former French federation president Bernard Laporte —who masterminded the Gallic transformation? ‘We’ll talk to anybody,’ said Sweeney. ‘Conor (O’Shea, RFU director of performance rugby) is coming here to chat about what they have done in Paris; how they have tapped into a different (multi-cultural) athlete pool. We’ve been talking about that for a long time but we haven’t done it, and we need to do things like that to broaden the skill base.’

France have shown how to turn around a difficult situation, building their success on a crop of young players like Antoine Dupont (pictured)

England should aim to reconnect with the public as they look to move forwards after unrest in recent times

Re-connect with the public

England have suffered from unrest and apathy in the shires during their recent years of poor results — and the enthusiasm of fans has not been aided by negative tactics and dour public appearances. Sweeney insisted getting people onside is a priority.

‘Winning matters,’ he said. ‘If you’re winning, it’s easier to forge that bond. The players want a close connection with the fans. It’s clearly high on Steve’s radar as well. We’ll look at any and all ways we can do that.’

What about taking matches away from HQ? ‘Not hosting games at Twickenham — when you’ve got an 82,000-seater stadium which is normally full — is purely a financial concern,’ said Sweeney. ‘We would take a big financial hit if we did that.’

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