Shaun Edwards and England: what he says about Steve Borthwick

People are searching for Shaun Edwards today because BBC Sport has published his account of an approach to England. The BBC headline says that Steve Borthwick turned down Edwards's offer to work with England [1]. The sources so far give Edwards's version of events, and Borthwick's own account is not among them.

What Edwards says happened

According to the BBC Sport report, Edwards says he offered to join Steve Borthwick's England set-up, and that Borthwick turned the offer down [1]. Edwards says Borthwick told him he was happy with his existing staff [1]. The reachable copy of the report gives only a summary, so this article paraphrases that account rather than quoting it. No direct quotation from Edwards or Borthwick about the approach has been verified.

The formal offer question

RUCK reports that Edwards said he had never received a formal offer. In RUCK's account, a club or union would need to approach him first, and no such approach came [2]. That is a narrower claim than the BBC headline, which frames the matter as Borthwick turning down an offer. Both accounts come from Edwards's side, so the sources do not settle what Borthwick or the RFU intended.

Edwards has been approached by England before. In August 2018 he said: "I had one serious offer to work with England from Andy Robinson in 2006," and added: "I respectfully turned Andy's offer down, and that remains the only time that I have ever had a concrete offer from England" [7]. In a 2021 interview he said Robinson's offer came at a hard time personally, and that he had talked it through with his mother and was not ready [6].

Edwards's career

Edwards began as a rugby league player. Rugby World says he signed for Wigan on his 17th birthday for £35,000, a record at the time for a schoolboy player [5]. It also lists Balmain Tigers, London Broncos and Bradford Bulls among his clubs, and says he represented Great Britain and England [5].

He moved into coaching at Wasps in 2001 as defence and backs coach [5]. He became Wales defence coach when Warren Gatland took over in late 2007 [5]. He coached the British and Irish Lions in a defence role on their 2009 tour of South Africa [5]. He became France's defence coach in 2020 [5]. Wikidata describes him as an English rugby league footballer and rugby union coach, born on 17 October 1966, and lists his defence coaching roles for Wales (2008 to 2019) and France (from 2020) [8].

Current role

Planet Rugby reports that Edwards is contracted with Argentina until the end of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, and that he will join Argentina's coaching staff ahead of the second leg of the Nations Championship [3]. RUCK puts it more briefly: "Edwards has now agreed to join Argentina until the end of the 2027 World Cup" [2].

Edwards also had a brief consultancy with the England women's team, the Red Roses, this year [1]. The BBC Sport report says he credited the team's performance against New Zealand, in which they made 310 tackles and conceded only 19 points, as one of the biggest statistics of his career [1].

England's coaching context

RugbyPass reports, in French, that the Telegraph said the RFU was about to extend Borthwick's contract to the end of the 2028 Six Nations [4]. The same report says there had been talk of a possible replacement for Borthwick by Shaun Edwards [4].

RugbyPass says Borthwick led England to the 2023 World Cup semi-finals [4]. It also gives his record as 28 wins from 48 Tests, or 57.4% [4]. England finished fifth in the 2026 Six Nations, which RugbyPass calls their worst campaign since the tournament expanded to six teams, including a defeat to Italy [4].

What to watch next

Three things will show whether this story moves on. The first is whether the RFU confirms the reported extension of Borthwick's contract. The second is whether Borthwick or the RFU gives its own account of the approach, since the sources so far rely on Edwards. The third is when Edwards starts with Argentina, which Planet Rugby ties to the second leg of the Nations Championship [3].