Steve Borthwick confirms England departure, Jason Ryles named as replacement

Steve Borthwick will leave his role as England assistant coach at the end of the season, with Australian Jason Ryles named as his replacement.

Borthwick joined the England set-up as forwards coach in December 2015, having previously worked under Eddie Jones when the Australian was in charge of Japan.

The 40-year-old will change roles from forwards coach to skills coach for England’s Six Nations campaign starting against France on February 2.

Borthwick has not revealed his next job, though it has been widely reported he will be taking up a role with Leicester Tigers.

“The past four years has been an incredible journey for me with this England team,” said Borthwick. “I have enjoyed the experience working with such a talented and special group of players.

“It has been great to work for Eddie over this period of time and I would like to thank him and the other coaches and staff for all their support and help.

“I am very proud of what we have achieved as a team since 2016, culminating in a Rugby World Cup final last year. Having come back from Japan, spent time with my family and reflected on my time with England, I have decided to step away from the role towards the end of the season.”

Jones said: “I have had a great seven years with Steve. He is a loyal, hard-working and analytical coach but I understand he needs now to get out on his own following this campaign. He’s made that decision and we are really pleased for him.

“One of my roles has been to develop English coaches and so it has been great to see coaches leave this programme to further their careers with the likes of Paul Gustard at Harlequins and Neal Hatley at Bath Rugby. We have put three good young coaches back into the system.”

Ryles, who is currently coaching at NRL side Melbourne Storm, will join Jones’ coaching staff ahead of the Quilter Internationals later in the year as skills coach.

Ryles has been assistant coach of Melbourne since 2016 and helped them to a Premiership title in 2017. He has spent time in recent seasons with England assisting Jones and his coaches.

“I am really excited about the opportunity to work in a world-class programme with the England national team and someone like Eddie with his experience is very appealing for me,” said Ryles. “It will be a real honour to work with some of the best coaches and so many quality England players.

“I was really impressed in the times that I have come into camp previously with how organised everything is and it’s been a really enjoyable experience from which I have learned a lot.

“My background as a former rugby league player and coach I hope will be really useful and add to the overall programme.”

(c) Sky Sports 2020: Steve Borthwick confirms England departure, Jason Ryles named as replacement