Steve Borthwick’s tenure as the head coach of England has been marked by his ruthless approach, as he has made the tough decision to drop several prominent players ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Outlined below are four exceptional talents who are unlikely to add to their international caps under Borthwick’s leadership.
#1. Jack Nowell
With a move to France pending, the Exeter Chiefs flier went from vice-captain in the Autumn to being completely out of the squad for the Six Nations, reportedly without a phone call.
Brutal from Steve Borthwick, who is reportedly being heavily influenced by RFU chiefs according to Eddie Jones.
Yesterday, any chance of a recall seemed to go out the window as Nowell was fined £10,000 by the Rugby Football Union for criticising a refereeing decision on Twitter.
The 30-year-old accepted his post prejudiced the game when appearing in front of an independent disciplinary panel on Wednesday.
He has to undertake a referees’ course, with the fine being donated to charity.
Nowell said referee Karl Dickson’s decision to show Woodburn his second yellow card was “one of the worst decisions” he had ever seen.
The winger pre-empted being left out of the World Cup squad, pulling himself out of contention.
Nowell said: ““Like I have said, I didn’t have a lot of communication with Steve. To be honest, I didn’t have a lot, so you come to that stage where you are, ‘Right, probably that ship has sailed on me now in terms of the England stuff’.”
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