14 September 2023 , 05:00
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Danny Cipriani claims Steve Borthwick "probably didn't know what he was getting himself into" as he attempts to reset the England culture post-Eddie Jones.
The Australian was axed last autumn with Borthwick, who served on Jones' coaching staff, getting the call to take the top job after his success in the Premiership with Leicester. Jones had overseen a steady decline after reaching the World Cup final in 2019.
Some of his methods were criticised with Cipriani, who played under Jones, commenting that the now Australia coach adopted a fear-based philosophy. Borthwick is now having to undo that with the former Wasps and Sale fly-half urging him to change the influence senior players have on the group.
Cipriani was speaking exclusively to The Mirror Online as part of the third series of the Under the Surface podcast, with menswear brand Original Penguin x CALM: "Steve is still figuring out the best things and best combinations. He's only had a short time as England coach and he's got eight years of fairly bad wiring to re-wire because of the way England was coached previously under Eddie.
"Not that Eddie is a bad bloke, because he's not, but in terms of the way he's coached it is often fear based, which can lead to results but it also creates players who can't make decisions and don't stand-up for themselves. Steve is feeling that fallout now, he probably didn't know what he was getting himself into.
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"I'm not discounting him, but he's got to shake-up the way the England team is ran on a player level too otherwise he'll just be replicating what's happened with the last three coaches in Johnson, Lancaster and Eddie."
Danny Cipriani believes Steve Borthwick must undo the culture within the EnglandJones' tactics were divisive in the latter stages of his tenure with some players responding and others struggling. Cipriani recently revealed his his new autobiography how, under Stuart Lancaster, senior players came across like "the mafia" naming the likes of Owen Farrell and Ben Youngs.
He said: "A clique of players helps run the team: Owen Farrell, George Ford, Chris Robshaw, Dan Cole, Ben Youngs, a couple of others. They’re called 'the leadership group', but more like the mafia, always appearing to be scheming."
The current boss had to weather a storm in the World Cup warm-ups as England lost three of their four games but was adamant the setbacks would galvanise them. He said last month: “I’ve been involved with other England teams before that, under pressure and in difficult circumstances, under adversity and some similar challenges to what we’ve faced in the last few weeks, have come apart. What I sense is a group that’s coming even tighter together."
Borthwick oversaw a fairly poor Six Nations with England's only wins coming over Italy and Wales whilst they suffered a record defeat to France at Twickenham. Results in the World Cup warm-ups gave little reason to be optimistic, but a morale boosting win over Argentina on Saturday means England are well placed to top their pool.
Danny Cipriani was speaking to The Mirror Online in partnership with the Under the Surface podcast with menswear brand Original Penguin x CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably). You can listen to the full episode available at www.originalpenguin.co.uk/pages/calm-underthesurface