Player-coach rift report will only galvanise England - George

Published6 November 2026

England hooker Jamie George says the squad are "really upset" by a newspaper article claiming the end of their summer tour was marked by player unrest over head coach Steve Borthwick's leadership.

A report in the Times, external says unhappy players wanted summit talks with Borthwick and Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney in Argentina in July.

It alleges there are disagreements among Borthwick's wider coaching group, which has been subject to frequent change in his nearly four years in charge, and concerns over the head coach's man-management skills.

England meet Australia in the Nations Championship on Sunday at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, with George querying the timing of the article as well as its contents.

The Saracens hooker, who was made England captain by Borthwick in 2024 before the role passed to Maro Itoje 12 months later, said that he did not recognise the situation described by the article.

"I can tell you that a lot of it's untrue," George told Rugby Union Weekly.

"We, as a squad, are incredibly disappointed by it.

"You just have to look at the timing of the article - two days out from our first Test match. I think it's clearly there to try and be divisive.

"It is the first time I think in my England career that as a group we've had to address an article that's been written, but we spoke about it brilliantly.

"Maro called a leader's meeting and thought that that was the best way of us going about it.

"Whoever's written this article, obviously their aim was for it to be divisive. Unfortunately for them, it's going to go the other way.

"This is going to galvanise us, it's going to make us tighter. We speak a lot about standing up for people, we speak a lot about helping each other, and we've got to make sure that we do that for Steve.

"He has had a bit of a personal attack here and an unwarranted one at that."

While none of the sources for the Times article were directly quoted in it, some of those previously involved in Borthwick's regime have criticised the set-up.

England's most-capped men's player Ben Youngs, who won the Premiership under Borthwick at Leicester and was part of his England squad at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, has described how he felt the head coach failed to offer sympathy and support when his family was affected by a terminal illness., external

Defence coach Felix Jones helped South Africa to back-to-back world titles, but lasted only seven months working under Borthwick before an "unstable working environment" reportedly motivated him to hand in his notice.

"The depiction is not something I recognise," Borthwick told Rugby Union Weekly of the Times article, emphasising that meetings between senior players and coaches are a feature of most coaching set-ups.

"As senior players part of our job is to challenge Steve," added George. "Steve is so open to us giving feedback and having challenge.

"It is very much a two-way conversation and that was definitely there in Argentina.

"There was an edge to what we were doing - there was plenty going on - but at no stage was it toxic.

"I don't know many organisations in the world that don't review big tournaments and try and make sure you take plenty of learnings."

England v Australia

Nations Championship

Sunday 8 November, 15:10 GMT

Allianz Stadium, Twickenham

Live commentary on BBC Sports Extra, BBC Sport website and app

England's autumn campaign begins against Australia on Sunday.

Borthwick will be acutely aware that it was at the same point in the World Cup cycle that his predecessor Eddie Jones was sacked.

The Australian, who, like Borthwick, had been heavily backed by the RFU, was eventually forced out after a November 2022 defeat by South Africa was met by a chorus of jeers from the Twickenham stands.

Allianz Stadium generates about 90% of the RFU's revenue, the vast majority of which comes via men's national team matchdays.

England's meeting with the Wallabies will be the first time Borthwick's team have returned to the venue since February's 42-21 loss to Ireland in a miserable Six Nations campaign.

While wins over Fiji and Argentina in their last two outings have ended a run of five straight losses, England's winning percentage for 2026 is still only 38%.

Only two years since the start of the Millennium have ended with a worse return.

After taking over from Jones, Borthwick very nearly led England to the Rugby World Cup final less than a year later, losing to South Africa by a single point in their semi-final.

His 2025 campaign fuelled hope with 11 wins from 12 matches, including a rare victory over New Zealand.

However, the momentum gathered on that run has evaporated.

The All Blacks, rejuvenated under new coach Dave Rennie, loom two weeks after Sunday's meeting with Australia, with a match against Japan, now led by Jones himself, in between.

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