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Stephen William Borthwick (born 12 October 1979) is an English rugby union coach and former player, who is currently the head coach of the England national team. As a player, he played as a lock for Bath Rugby and Saracens. At international level, he played for England 57 times from his debut in 2001; he served as captain from 2008, until he was dropped from the side in 2010.
Borthwick was appointed as England's forwards coach in December 2015, a role which he left in mid 2020 to become head coach of Leicester Tigers instead. In December 2022, he was appointed as the England head coach.
Borthwick had, arguably, his best season for Bath Rugby in the 2003–04 season. A central figure in the absence of many senior players due to the 2003 Rugby World Cup, he set about making his mark on the English Premiership. Bath made the League Final that season, losing to Wasps RFC. He was one of the three nominees for the Premiership Player of the Year award. In his final game with the club, Borthwick captained Bath to victory in the 2007–08 European Challenge Cup.
In January 2008, Borthwick announced that he would be leaving Bath at the end of the 2007–08 season for Saracens.
In the 2009–10 season, he was named as the club captain. Injury prevented him from playing for much of the season – he returned for the Premiership final, but not as captain, as Saracens were defeated by Leicester Tigers. However, in the 2010–11 season, he started the final – a rematch against the Tigers – as Saracens won their first Premiership title.
On 28 November 2013, Borthwick announced he would be retiring at the end of the 2013–14 season.
He came on as a blood replacement for Ben Kay in the 25–14 win over Australia in Melbourne in June 2003, his sixth cap. A member of England's wider 2003 World Cup squad, he narrowly missed selection to the final 30. He regained his place in the England squad after the 2003 World Cup and despite England's disappointing results, Borthwick was given credit for his solid play.
Borthwick initially failed to make England's squad for the 2005 Autumn internationals, with Gloucester Rugby forward Alex Brown seemingly poised for a start instead, but injury ruled Brown out of contention and Borthwick stepped in, playing a significant role against Australia, New Zealand and Samoa.
Borthwick was selected as a member of England's 2007 Rugby World Cup squad. He played in three pool stage matches, starting against Tonga. He did not participate in the knockout games.
In the 2009 Six Nations, Borthwick came under more criticism as England's discipline cost them victories against Ireland and Wales. However, after performing much better against France and Scotland in the last two weeks of the tournament, Borthwick's critics seemed to leave him alone.
Due to injury, Borthwick was not a member of the 2010 England rugby union tour of Australasia. On 1 July 2010, he was dropped from the Elite Player Squad by Martin Johnson.
On 15 December 2015, he was confirmed as the new England forwards coach.
In October 2019, it was reported that Borthwick's next role would be with Leicester Tigers following the 2019 Rugby World Cup. It was later confirmed he would join the club as head coach for the 2020–21 season. Borthwick led the Tigers to their eleventh Premiership title during the 2021–22 season.
On 19 December 2022, it was announced that Borthwick would take over as head coach of the England men's rugby team, replacing Eddie Jones.
| 1 | 4 February | Twickenham, London, England | 23–29 | Six Nations Championship | Owen Farrell | |
| 2 | 12 February | 31–14 | ||||
| 3 | 25 February | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales | 20–10 | |||
| 4 | 11 March | Twickenham, London, England | 10–53 | Ellis Genge | ||
| 5 | 18 March | Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland | 16–29 | Owen Farrell | ||
| 6 | 5 August | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales | 9–20 | Rugby World Cup warm-ups | Ellis Genge | |
| 7 | 12 August | Twickenham, London, England | 19–17 | Owen Farrell | ||
| 8 | 19 August | Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland | 10–29 | Courtney Lawes | ||
| 9 | 26 August | Twickenham, London, England | 22–30 | |||
| 10 | 9 September | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France | 27–10 | Rugby World Cup pool stage | ||
| 11 | 17 September | Allianz Riviera, Nice, France | 34–12 | |||
| 12 | 23 September | Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France | 71–0 | Owen Farrell | ||
| 13 | 7 October | 18–17 | ||||
| 14 | 15 October | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France | 30–24 | Rugby World Cup knockout stage | ||
| 15 | 21 October | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France | 15–16 | |||
| 16 | 27 October | 26–23 | ||||
| 17 | 3 February | Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy | 27–24 | Six Nations Championship | Jamie George | |
| 18 | 10 February | Twickenham, London, England | 16–14 | |||
| 19 | 24 February | Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland | 21–30 | |||
| 20 | 9 March | Twickenham, London, England | 23–22 | |||
| 21 | 16 March | Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Décines-Charpieu, France | 31–33 | |||
| 22 | 22 June | National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan | 52–17 | Summer tour of Japan and New Zealand | ||
| 23 | 6 July | Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand | 15–16 | |||
| 24 | 13 July | Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand | 17–24 | |||
| 25 | 2 November | Twickenham, London, England | 22–24 | Autumn Nations Series | ||
| 26 | 9 November | 37–42 | ||||
| 27 | 16 November | 20–29 | ||||
| 28 | 24 November | 59–14 | ||||
| 29 | 1 February | Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland | 22–27 | Six Nations Championship | Maro Itoje | |
| 30 | 8 February | Twickenham, London, England | 26–25 | |||
| 31 | 22 February | 16–15 | ||||
| 32 | 8 March | 47–24 | ||||
| 33 | 15 March | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales | 68–14 | |||
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