The cost of England’s failure in the Rugby World Cup continued to accumulate Monday "with the tab rising well above" £1M ($1.5M), according to Owen Slot of the LONDON TIMES. The Rugby Football Union confirmed Monday that Andy Farrell, Graham Rowntree and Mike Catt, the trio of coaches who had worked as the main backroom staff under Stuart Lancaster, "all had their contracts terminated." It was only 13 months ago that confidence in the coaching team was "so buoyant that they were given contract extensions beyond the 2019 World Cup." They have "all been rescinded four years short." The coaches’ payoff deals were finally concluded Monday and "they are to receive remuneration for one of the four years remaining on their contracts." The cost of regime change is "set to rise further when the new, incoming coaching staff have been bought out of their contracts." The RFU "already had to buy Eddie Jones out of his contract with the Stormers in South Africa and is negotiating to free Steve Borthwick from his deal with Bristol and Paul Gustard from Saracens." Borthwick and Gustard are "the first to have been asked by Jones to join his new England regime." Borthwick has only just started a two-year contract with Bristol, "who have been playing hardball to keep him, and Gustard has another 18 months under contract with Saracens." The RFU is in the "happy position of being very capable of covering the costs." It was already the "wealthiest union in the world" even before it announced, in November, profits of £15M ($22.6M) from the surplus from the World Cup (LONDON TIMES, 12/15). The London GUARDIAN reported Borthwick agreed to join Jones' "coaching staff at England as forwards coach." Borthwick: "This is a really exciting opportunity to join the England setup and to link up with Eddie again. This is a huge honor to be asked as these chances don't come around often" (GUARDIAN, 12/15).
CLUB VS. COUNTRY: In London, Neil Gardner reported Borthwick has "become entangled in an unseemly club-versus-country row after Bristol contested his appointment as the forwards coach in Eddie Jones' new-look England backroom team." Just 90 minutes after England's announcement, however, Bristol, the Greene King IPA Championship side with whom the 36-year-old had a recent coaching spell, "claimed that they have not reached agreement over the release of the former Bath and Saracens lock and had not given the Rugby Football Union permission to speak to him." A Bristol statement said, "Steve Borthwick has today indicated to the club that he wishes to join the RFU coaching team. Bristol Rugby want to make it clear that we have not agreed that Steve Borthwick can leave our employment. Steve Borthwick is subject to a recently signed long-term employment contract. Bristol Rugby did not give the RFU permission to speak with Steve Borthwick. Bristol Rugby will take all reasonable actions as necessary to protect the club's position and, therefore, will not be making any further statement at this stage" (LONDON TIMES, 12/15).
