Borthwick discusses England's road ahead

Newly appointed England boss Steve Borthwick appears full of enthusiasm about the future and hopes breed a style of rugby into his players which will tug on the heartstrings of the fans.

"It feels exciting. I feel incredibly proud and honoured," said Borthwick said, speaking to Sky Sports from Twickenham.

"Having played for the team, captained the team, been an assistant coach, to now be head coach is an incredible honour.”

Borthwick won 57 England caps between 2001 and 2010.

"This England rugby team has so much power to influence,” he continued.

“As a young boy, I fell in love with the game watching the England rugby team.

"This team that goes out here and plays at the start of the Six Nations, I want it to be a team that makes people fall in love with the game.

"One that makes kids want to play rugby, and play for England.

"If you do that, the supporters here are going to love it.

"There's a great group of players here with England, and a group I think are desperate to do well, so I'm looking forward to working with them.

"It's 47 days until we're back here playing the first game of the Six Nations [vs Scotland], and this is day one for me.

"There's plenty to do. But when the players come into camp, we'll be clear on the priorities and what we need to do, so that when we go out there, we see a team that plays hard, competes for everything, and fights together."

2022 has not been a good year for English rugby, but Borthwick is keen to iron out the current issues as swiftly as possible so the team can commence working towards restoring their reputation.

"One of the things that stands out to me, from speaking to the players and watching the players, is just how much they're hurting.

"They care deeply about the supporters. They care deeply about winning games for England. And I'm proud to be head coach of this team.

"But I understand that means nothing if we don't deliver. We want to produce a team that wins. We want to ensure we have a supporter base that is proud of their team.

"What's clear is that every single minute counts. That's the preparation time we have.

"This is day one for me, so from this day on I'll be making sure I work every single minute I can to help this team be as prepared as possible."

Borthwick and his predecessor, Jones, have a long history together working with both England and Japan.

"I've learnt so many different things from him over so many years, and I feel very grateful for that.

"One of the key aspects you learn there is you have to lead as you and be authentic in the way you lead. And that's what I'm going to do here.

"As a leader and coach, I love winning. I want this team to be a team that delivers. We've got a lots of work to do to get to that point, because we're behind, but we're going to do that work.

"And I love helping people, I get a huge amount of joy from seeing happiness in other people.

"Players and supporters enjoying success, that will bring a lot of joy to me."

On the matter of his chosen assistant coach, Kevin Sinfield, Borthwick was full of praise.

"The sport of rugby has taught me so many different things around being part of a team, how you work together for each other, how you help your mates, how you look after each other.

"And if there's one person that embodies that more than anybody else in rugby, it's Kevin Sinfield.

"I think the guy is a really fantastic coach, but he's an incredible human being.

"He has the power to move people, the power to lead. Incredible person."