Edwards says Borthwick turned down his offer to join England and he has signed with Argentina for 2027 World Cup
Shaun Edwards told Rugby Union Weekly that England head coach Steve Borthwick declined his offer to join the England coaching team for next year's Rugby World Cup and that Edwards has signed to work with Argentina at the 2027 tournament.
Edwards, 60, left his role with France earlier this year and after a short-term consultancy with England's women's side has committed to Argentina until the end of the World Cup. He has a long coaching CV, including three Six Nations Grand Slams during a 12-year spell with Wales and three Six Nations titles with France. His club record includes two Champions Cups and four English titles with Wasps, where he moved from defence coach into the head-coach position, and he was a successful rugby league player for Wigan and Great Britain.
On his approach to England's men’s set-up, Edwards said: "I had a good chat with Steve over the phone." He added: "I said to Steve he can make me assistant kit man and I'll be there, I'll be ready for work." Edwards reported Borthwick was "very, very honest" and that the England coach told him he was "happy with his staff and the way things have been going, and I respected him for that."
Edwards has been linked with England's men's team for many years; the Rugby Football Union made approaches to bring him into their coaching pathway in 2006 and 2008, and chief executive Bill Sweeney held informal talks with Edwards in 2021 but chose not to compete with France for his services. He was also linked with the vacant Fiji job later awarded to South African Jake White.
On missed head-coach opportunities, Edwards said: "I thought I might have got the Wales job when Warren decided to leave, but then I went on to something which I'd always wanted to do - which is to help France," referring to Wales appointing Wayne Pivac instead in 2019. He described surprise that his experience has not yet produced a Test head-coach role.
Edwards said his brief work with the Red Roses was instructive and pointed to England women's 26-19 win over New Zealand at Allianz Stadium as a notable performance; Zoe Harrison's last-play try secured that result despite the hosts making only seven 22m entries compared with New Zealand's 15. He highlighted defensive workload, saying: "The team made 310 tackles against New Zealand and we only conceded 19 points. That is probably the biggest stat I've ever been involved with in my whole career. Normally if you go over 250 tackles, you lose because the other teams obviously had all the ball." He also commented on matchday mood: "The girls are very joyous on matchday whereas, as men, we've got our heads down almost like we're going to a slaughterhouse," and added, "I was thinking afterwards that maybe that's the way to go - be a bit more relaxed before the match."
Borthwick's backroom for Australia 2027 is already in place, with Richard Wigglesworth overseeing defence supported by Byron McGuigan and Joe El-Abd. England's form over the past two years has been inconsistent: a 12-Test winning streak was ended by Scotland in February, followed by five successive defeats, before recent wins over Fiji and Argentina, and the team now face Australia, Japan, New Zealand and a Nations Championship play-off on successive weekends through November.