Sir Clive Woodward fears Steve Borthwick is heading down the same path as Eddie Jones in placing too much focus on the next World Cup.
Jones was outed after some poor form in the year leading up to the 2023 edition of the tournament.
Legendary former England boss Woodward believes Ireland’s Andy Farrell is ‘light years’ ahead of his rivals in building a team for the ‘here and now’.
“What I like about Ireland, and Farrell in particular, is the rhetoric and decision making coming from their camp. Farrell is light years ahead of his rivals,” the 68-year-old wrote for the Daily Mail.
“There’s been a lot of talk already in this championship about teams building for the future, the 2027 World Cup and the next four-year cycle. England are guilty of it as much as anyone.
“Eddie Jones spent far too long talking about the World Cup as an end point only to totally forget about the here and now. The result was he never made it to France last year — not with England anyway.
“It is a mindset that has rooted itself into English rugby and I’m concerned his successor Steve Borthwick is falling into the same trap.”
