FAO Any England Rugby Fans

The veteran football manager behind Steve Borthwick's England strategy​

Borthwick will lead England out for the first time as head coach on Saturday and has praised Tony Pulis for his counsel

ByCharles Richardson, RUGBY REPORTER2 February 2023 • 7:00am

Steve Borthwick, the England head coach, looks on during the England training session held at Pennyhill Park on January 30, 2023 in Bagshot, England

'What a guy': says Steve Borthwick on Eddie Jones CREDIT: David Rogers/Getty Images

When, in one of his final press conferences with Leicester Tigers, Steve Borthwick was quizzed about those who had aided his coaching ascent, England's new head coach respectfully declined to identify his confidants.
"There are two or three people outside who I speak to on a weekly basis," the 43-year-old said. "You have to be very selective, but I’m fortunate I’ve got wonderful people who are willing to help me on my journey."
If one was asked to guess their identities, a sheet of paper the size of Twickenham's pitch might be filled before correctly guessing one in particular. One which began when the now England head coach was an assistant to his predecessor, Eddie Jones; one which flourished when Leicester Tigers came calling in 2020; and one which the person in question was reticent to detail when approached by Telegraph Sport, concerned with stealing Borthwick's thunder. That coach – never relegated and promoted through every league in football – is former Stoke City supremo Tony Pulis.

Eddie Jones had previously collaborated with Tony Pulis CREDIT: Matthew Ashton/AMA
"I don't want to talk to you, if the truth be known!" Pulis jokes. "I've had my career and my time in the light, but this is about Steve. I help people in other sports – because I enjoy it. I learnt a lot from Steve, going up and watching Leicester train, talking to him. Please don't take any glory away from what Steve has done. I was just a bystander helping out a very good man."
Jones, Borthwick's mentor, was the common denominator. While Pulis was managing West Bromwich Albion, the Australian – "very engaging; sharp as a tack" – called the club and asked if he could observe training for the day. Pulis obliged and, shortly after, a return invite was offered for the Welshman to visit England rugby. At post-training dinner, the Borthwick-Pulis axis was born.
Advertisement.

"We had a wonderful chat," Pulis says. "Steve told me he was taking over at Leicester and explained that they had been going through a tough period. They were on a real downer and the only thing that had saved them from being relegated was the Saracens [salary-cap] situation."
From there, the relationship blossomed. Pulis became a sounding board for Borthwick's Leicester revolution, with the then Tigers head coach seeking the 65-year-old's counsel on a range of matters. Pulis invited Borthwick for lunch at his Dorset home – the former's wife, Deb, cooking her "tuna pie special, with nothing left on the plate" – and the intricacies of an elite sports club were thrashed out in detail.
"He came down and had a day with us," Pulis adds. "His philosophy and attitude were pretty set. What he wanted to do was feed off me a little bit in respect of the experience I’d had at all the levels I’d worked at.
"When he left, I remember telling Deb how impressive he was. He's picked up so much... but he's clever enough to have thrown away the rubbish and kept all the good stuff.

Pulis (right) met Borthwick while West Brom manager CREDIT: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP
"I’m a fully paid-up member of the common sense party and Steve was on the same lines. There was no bull----. There was no 'Steve trying to impress me' or 'me trying to impress him'.
"I then visited Welford Road and had a day with him; sat in on a staff meeting, saw how they worked, went in the dressing room and met the players... the most important thing is getting people around you who want to work as hard as you do and want the club to be as successful as you do."

'What Steve did with Leicester Tigers was extraordinary'​

Pulis continues: "And when he got the England job I rang him up and said the most important thing now is to make all those b------ in the press your best friends.
"Will he be given the time to put in place a system of play with the best players in England? Selection is obviously massive as a national head coach; because it's not necessarily about selecting the best players, but those who make the best team. Steve gets that.
"It hurts people when they're left out or not getting what they want, but if you're honest with them then further down the line that respect comes in."
Although communication between the pair has cooled in its regularity of late, they remain close. "What a guy," was Borthwick's reaction when Telegraph Sport brought up Pulis. Borthwick furnished Pulis and his four grandchildren with Leicester shirts to watch the Tigers' Premiership title triumph at Twickenham last season and clearly holds the former Stoke, West Brom and Crystal Palace manager in the highest esteem.
"When all this started I actually went down to Exeter to watch them and they got absolutely murdered," Pulis says. "It was his first game. It was difficult. We had a chat when we were both driving home. We had half an hour on the phone. He knew, I think, what he needed to do; what was necessary. But he just needed to go through it with someone, an outsider who had a fresh view of it with no angles. It was to clear his mind as much as anything else.
"Steve would later send me stuff. It was always so in-depth; he knew what he wanted. In the end, they went to Twickenham. It was wonderful to go there having seen how he progressed over the season – a fabulous one for Leicester – and then to see him in a final, beating Saracens, was fantastic. I was so impressed. He was quite ruthless... but what he did with the Tigers was extraordinary.
"Apart from when they play Wales, I wish him all the best."
 
You and others can thank me later but this link can bypass newspaper paywalls. If you think that is ethically wrong to deprive newspapers of their income then please dont employ.

12ft

12ft.io
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top