Eddie Jones's sacking as England head coach brought to an end one of the great villain eras in modern rugby.
England are a team that most other nations are desperate to defeat at the best of times, but that was kicked up a notch or two while the Aussie was in charge. He always did his best to rile up opposition coaches, players, and supporters ahead of important fixtures.
Of course, those in his own camp were also often annoyed by his antics, especially towards the end of his tenure. By the end of the autumn internationals, it was clear that his position was no longer tenable.
He would be replaced by Steve Borthwick, who will now be tasked with arresting England's slide ahead of the World Cup later this year.
Eddie Jones wants some credit for Steve Borthwick appointment
Steve Borthwick left his role as Leicester Tigers head coach to take up the position with England, although he has been involved at test level in the past.
He worked alongside Eddie Jones with Japan, serving as the team's forwards coach from 2012 up to the 2015 World Cup. From there, he followed the Australian back to England where he would remain until the 2019 World Cup.
He has now succeeded Jones as the head coach, something the 62-year old believes he deserves some credit for.
In an interview with The Guardian, he backed Borthwick to succeed as England and claimed that moulding his as the next head coach was part of his mandate when he took the England job.
Steve Borthwick was there until 2020. He then wanted his own career. One of my jobs was to get England to win again, which I did, and also to produce the next head coach.
So I look back with satisfaction because Steve will do a bloody good job. He’s outstanding...
Very briefly when I finished (he spoke to Borthwick). I wished him the best and if he needs anything I’m there to help him. I’m back in the UK for a period this month and if he needs any help I’ll be all hands on deck.
One of the main tasks at hand for Borthwick will be restoring team morale after a disastrous couple of years under Jones. It was clear that the mood within the camp was on the floor towards the end of his time with the team, contributing to some very poor results on the pitch.
It seemed that each international window would lead to new problems, although Jones is hesitant to say he has any regrets from his time in charge.
Indeed, he feels one of his mistakes was not surrounding himself with the right people, hinting that one of the reason's for England's failings down through the years was that his various assistants down through the years simply weren't up to the job.
I don’t have any regrets but there were a couple of mistakes, a couple of decisions I probably rushed...
I think it’s always about selection of people, mate...
There’s this perception I’m a raving lunatic. But I haven’t been like that for a long time. I don’t know whether I was too soft in England. Did I get enough out of the players? Probably no, in the end, and that’s why you get the sack, mate.
Jones would go on to say that he has two job offers on the table at the moment, with a final decision on his next role to be made in the next couple of weeks.
We're already looking forward to his return.
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