Steve Borthwick responds to speculation over Kevin Sinfield's England future

Amid speculation that Steve Borthwick’s assistant coach Kevin Sinfield will step down from his England duties at the end of the World Cup, the head coach remained tight lipped when asked about the rumours this week.

England head into their final match of the World Cup this Friday against Argentina in the bronze final- a repeat of their opening match of the tournament. Reports emerged after the semi-final loss to South Africa that the rugby league legend will be leaving Borthwick’s coaching staff after the World Cup with the imminent arrival of South Africa assistant coach Felix Jones.

When quizzed about Sinfield’s future after England’s captain’s run at the Stade de France on Thursday, Borthwick said that he has learnt in his time in charge of England that it is “unwise” to comment on all rumours that circulate.

Siya Kolisi talks about the Springboks facing off against the All Blacks in the World Cup Final

Video Player is loading.

Play Video

PlaySkip BackwardSkip Forward

Unmute

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration 1:23

Loaded: 35.97%

0:00

Stream Type LIVE

Seek to live, currently behind liveLIVE

Remaining Time -1:23

 

1x

Playback Rate

Chapters

• Chapters

Descriptions

• descriptions off, selected

Captions

• captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
• captions off, selected

Audio Track

• en (Main), selected

Fullscreen

This is a modal window.

Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

Text

ColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityOpaqueSemi-Transparent

Text Background

ColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparent

Caption Area Background

ColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaque

Font Size

50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%

Text Edge Style

NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop shadow

Font Family

Proportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall Caps

ResetDone

Close Modal Dialog

End of dialog window.

Close Modal Dialog

This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

Siya Kolisi talks about the Springboks facing off against the All Blacks in the World Cup Final

“I’ve been in this job nine, 10 months,” the former Leicester Tigers head coach said. “One thing I’ve learnt very quickly it’s impossible and unwise to comment on every rumour and piece of speculation that is thrown out. I make no comment.”

Sinfield joined England as defence coach alongside Borthwick at the end of 2022 following the departure of Eddie Jones. Though it took a while to see results, Sinfield’s work with England has bore fruit this World Cup.

England have conceded the joint-fewest tries of any team at the World Cup, with seven, despite going deep into the tournament. On top of that, they completed 86% of the tackles against South Africa last weekend, their highest success-rate so far this World Cup, which shows the progress they have made throughout the tournament.

Having lost to England 27-10 on the opening weekend of the tournament, lock Maro Itoje is all too aware that the Pumas will be seeking revenge on Friday in Paris.

“We are competing for third place at this World Cup, so there’s loads to be motivated about,” the Saracen said.

“I guess, from their point of view, we beat them earlier they’ll probably want to turn that around.

“It’s going to be a great contest. Two teams coming off the back of a loss wanting to get it right.”