Talks resume to get Phil Morrow on Borthwick’s England staff ASAP

Saracens general manager Phil Morrow is edging closer to permanently joining Steve Borthwick’s England coaching staff after talks resumed following their Autumn Nations Series. Borthwick wants the highly-rated Morrow to replace Aled Walters as head of strength and conditioning and had planned to involve him in the four-game November series against New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Japan.

However, Gallagher Premiership clubs voted 7-3 in October to block Morrow from a job-sharing agreement, which was Saracens boss Mark McCall’s preferred option. “I hope we can come to an arrangement that suits everybody,” he said.

“I can understand why he is in demand because he is outstanding in his field. Hopefully, small-mindedness doesn't get in the way of a good decision.”

Premiership Rugby’s director Phil Winstanley defended the decision of the clubs to block the appointment, telling The Rugby Paper that they had to think on their feet. “We have to find creative ways of managing the system,” he said.

“There have been a number of concerns over the years about shared coaches influencing squad selection. By definition it has an influence on financial benefits for clubs, there is a risk of poaching players and a risk around sensitive data on players from other clubs.

“That has been a challenge we have had for many years. We felt we could have got over this one, which is why we discussed it as long as we have done, but the bottom line is a number of clubs felt the risk of conflict was too great.”

Morrow, who worked at Ulster and joined Saracens in 2011, has worked alongside McCall for over 20 years and is now expected to leave the former Premiership and European champions before the start of the 2025 Six Nations.

England dropped from fifth to seventh in the world rankings after losing three of their four November games and could tumble to a record-equalling eighth if Australia win or draw against Ireland next Saturday.

Ironically, if talks go according to plan, Morrow, who has a four-year contract with Saracens and was the IRFU’s head of fitness during Declan Kidney’s time, will join Borthwick’s coaching staff when they kick off their Six Nations campaign in Dublin on February 1.