Steve Borthwick savoured success when England last defeated the All Blacks in New Zealand. Two decades on, the former test lock is back with the same mission – only this time leading England in their quest to upset Scott Robertson’s era from the outset.
Borthwick, now England’s head coach, vividly remembers their tense 15-13 victory over the All Blacks in 2003.
On a foul Wellington night, in driving rain, he emerged for 40 minutes off the bench as Clive Woodward’s men somehow survived two yellow cards – reduced to 13 men at one point – to triumph. That victory propelled a vastly experienced England team to their sole World Cup triumph later that year in Australia.
“I remember the closeness, the tightness, the fine margins, the attritional nature of it,” Borthwick recalls in an extended chat with the Herald this week while lending a hand at Sir Michael Jones’ Village Community Service Trust food bank.
“New Zealand always have a strong, skilful, fast, powerful team. To be successful, you must have a team that’s very fit, tactically smart and mentally strong. Over that period of time, Clive built that team. They were those things.”
Borthwick’s English squad cannot be compared to Woodward’s. At the end of their typically long season, they are missing experienced campaigners George Ford, Ellis Genge, Ollie Chessum and Elliot Daly. More pertinently, two years into Borthwick’s tenure, they are a team in transition and, potentially, on the rise.
Two tests against Robertson’s untested All Blacks in New Zealand present England the platform to continue their growth as they attempt to progress from last year’s one-point World Cup semifinal defeat to the Springboks and their impressive finish to the Six Nations, in which they stunned Ireland and narrowly lost to France.
England’s first venture to New Zealand for a decade could, therefore, have a profound impact on the trajectory of Borthwick’s squad.
“For us, this experience is invaluable in our development.”
History signposts Borthwick’s Mt Cook-sized task. England have lost seven successive tests in New Zealand since 2003, and their 2-15-1 record against the All Blacks in that 21-year timeframe hardly screams success.
Seven of England’s squad, however, remain from the dominant 2019 World Cup semifinal victory against the All Blacks in Yokohama, arguably their best performance of the professional age.
“We’re very focused on the future and where we want to go as a team,” Borthwick said. “We’re aware of the history. We know playing New Zealand in New Zealand is the ultimate challenge. This young squad gets excited by challenges. They want to go and play against the best. When you look at this New Zealand squad, the coaching team, you see the talent they have.
“We’ve got a number of players who were on the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. They’ve been sharing their experiences with the younger members of the squad.
“There’s been a lot of change for New Zealand. There’s a completely new coaching team; a new captain. This is a different challenge – and we’re a different team now as well. That bodes for an exciting first test in Dunedin on Saturday.”
England are, indeed, evolving. That’s not a notion many envisioned when Borthwick, an expert forwards coach painted in some quarters as shackled to the old-school style, assumed charge.
At last year’s World Cup, England were very traditional England – conservative, pragmatic, limited in their approach. They reverted to type: strengths centred on their combative set piece, forward domination and, with Ford then at the helm, drop goals.
A definitive shift has since emerged. Since their Six Nations loss to Scotland in Edinburgh in late February, England have broken free to embrace notable attacking-minded intent. And it’s paying dividends, with a stunning win against Ireland at Twickenham turning heads.
While discipline was an issue last week in Tokyo, England scored eight tries in their 52-13 tour-opening success. To seek cohesion, Borthwick has since stated he will retain that same team for the first test with the All Blacks.
“The changes we’ve made from the end of the Six Nations to now are as minimal as could be.”
Luring former Irish international and widely regarded Springboks defence coach Flexi Jones at the start of the Six Nations was a world-class addition to Borthwick’s coaching team. He also speaks highly of former All Blacks skills coach Andrew Strawbridge, who has switched to England’s management since the World Cup.
Jones’ presence will ensure the All Blacks playmakers and midfield are pressured with stifling rush defence.
On the other side of the ball, England are vastly more threatening than last year.
With Marcus Smith running the cutter from first five, England possess a dynamic playmaker and the presence of two 21-year-old, wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Hamilton-raised loose forward Chandler Cunningham-South, speaks to their recent injection of youth.
“It takes time to bring the team together, to bed players in and get used to how we want to play,” Borthwick said. “At the World Cup, we built some foundations in a short space of time. The coaching team came together at the start of the World Cup training camp.
“Through the Six Nations, that was us developing. We gradually saw improvement which is important and the team has then come back together for the test against Japan. Now we’re looking forward to being here in New Zealand.
“The attack always takes the longest to develop because it’s so relationship-based and with the cohesion of players. It’s always been the plan to try to build on the attack. We’ve got some exciting young players, many of whom are very new to the test arena. They’re all full of desire to do well.”
While Robertson’s All Blacks coaching debut heightens anticipation so, too, does it evoke uncertainty. As the All Blacks adjust to life without three centurions – Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Aaron Smith – and come to grips with the departure of the influential Richie Mo’unga, this could be the prime time for England to strike.
Borthwick is far too savvy to buy into such a narrative. “You’ve got a coaching team led by Scott Robertson with a great record throughout his career.
“Yes, some players aren’t there but there’s a lot of experience. This is a squad that only lost the World Cup by one point. We know this is an incredible New Zealand squad. They’ve got pace and power in their team. We’ve been watching Super Rugby closely and we’ve seen how well the New Zealand teams have done, especially the Blues.
“We’re a young squad and we want to be challenged.”
England shifted gears earlier this year. As with any northern nation trekking south at the taxing end of their season, the question is how much fuel they have left.
Can they prove to be fit, tactically astute, mentally strong? Is this the team to break England’s 21-year drought on New Zealand shores?
“We always go onto the pitch to win,” Borthwick said. “What a challenge that is for these guys.
“We’ve got a long way to go but the team is growing. At the start of the Six Nations, we had five new players and they’re going to be great England players for the future.
“One of the things that has struck me is the excitement, energy and intensity of these players. Some of these guys have been going now for more than 12 months and every day they’re driving training forward.”
Borthwick must harness those qualities as he seeks to propel his side to repeat his success in Wellington all those years ago.
Liam Napier has been a sports journalist since 2010, and his work has taken him to World Cups in rugby, netball and cricket, boxing world title fights and Commonwealth Games.
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