England coach Borthwick unfazed by coaching changes

LONDON :England coach Steve Borthwick said on Wednesday that the recent merry-go-round of coaching assistants would not disrupt his preparations for the November internationals and pointed to a core of consistency among his trusted deputies.

The last few months have seen a dizzying series of changes, including the surprise departure of defence coach Alex Jones after eight months in the job, quickly followed by that of strength and conditioning coach Aled Walters, who has yet to be replaced.

Joe El-Abd has come in for Jones, who continues to work as an analyst, Kevin Sinfield has taken a part-time overseeing role and Richard Wigglesworth has been promoted to be effectively Borthwick’s number two.

Asked if the changes had impacted his preparation for the November games against New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Japan, Borthwick said: "I think there is a whole lot of consistency with Wiggy, (scrum coach) Tom Harrison, Kev and Straws (assistant Andrew Strawbridge).

"Clearly there's a change there with Felix deciding he didn't want to work with the England team going forward but Joe is a coach I've known and respected for a long time. He has a pretty good understanding of how we operate."

Jones was tasked with switching England to the blitz defence that he helped run so successfully with South Africa and El-Abd appears to be continuing that approach.

"I see that as being pretty seamless in terms of the way we operate," Borthwick said. "We have a defence that has fast line speed, we get off the line and put the opposition under pressure and that's what Joe believes in also. He's coached that very successfully and understands it."

INJURED HALFBACKS

Borthwick was speaking at Twickenham after announcing a 36-man squad for the