Yahoo Sports Borthwick backed to repeat Tigers rebuild with England
England and Leicester Tigers scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet says the job Steve Borthwick is doing as national-team boss is similar to rebuild he undertook with the Premiership club.
Borthwick turned the Tigers from a side that had been battling to avoid relegation to English champions in 2022 after just two years at the helm.
He left Leicester the following season to replace Eddie Jones, and within 10 months had guided England to a third-placed World Cup finish.
The second half of 2024 provided little joy, however, with Japan the only team England have managed to beat in their past seven matches since the summer - a run which included three narrow defeats by New Zealand and losses to Australia and world champions South Africa.
"I see so many similarities with him going into the start at Leicester and the start of England," Van Poortvliet told BBC Radio Leicester.
"I think he handled it brilliantly - the way he is with players, how he keeps us believing and keeps us trusting in what we are doing."
England's extraordinary 42-37 defeat by the Wallabies in November was said to have Borthwick's side "battling to keep fans onside", according to BBC Sport's rugby union correspondent Chris Jones at the time.
Van Poortvliet, who is among five Leicester players called up by Borthwick for the upcoming Six Nations, says the public perception of the team differs greatly from those within the set-up.
And with his previous experience playing under Borthwick, having been part of the Tigers side he revived as a Premiership force, the 23-year-old is adamant that success will eventually come.
"Obviously results haven't been what we wanted in the last year, but I think it is similar to when we were almost into our second year at Tigers," Van Poortvliet said.
"He has a lot more time with us, so you get the changes quicker, but when we finished sixth in the table [in Borthwick's first full season] for half that year we were on the wrong ends of results and then by the end of the year we got more of a run together.
"It was close, the performances were there and we were just off it. And that's how I see it with England - we are so close.
"It can seem to the media or be seen by fans that you are miles off it, but it is really close and I'm sure this Six Nations we will work even harder and Steve will push us hard and keep us working on what we need to improve on.
"I have full faith that we will be able to turn those results around and be able to push forward to have a more successful campaign."
