Borthwick, Gatland and Jones have to pedal hard in new jobs – and quickly

The coaching trio have no time to experiment as the race towards this year’s Rugby World Cup enters its final stages

STEPPING UP: Steve Borthwick with Owen Farrell (right) during the training session at Latymer Upper School Playing Fields, London.

It used to be said that preparing for the 2023 Rugby World Cup was a gradual process. People liked to paint it as a painstaking four-year project, with an emphasis on steady incremental gains. Then everyone panicked. England, Wales and Australia have new head coaches with blank (ish) sheets of paper and there is an Old Testament feel to what happened just weeks ago.

Because, suddenly, the marathon is a flat-out mass sprint. The three unions in question are banking on the ability of, respectively, Steve Borthwick, Warren Gatland and Eddie Jones to accelerate their teams from 0-60 mph quicker than you can say Top Gear. It feels like one of those initially slow track cycling races where everyone starts to pedal like crazy.