Rugby World Cup: Jonny May on 'genius' Steve Borthwick
- Published
Steve Borthwick succeeded Eddie Jones as England coach in December 2022
2023 Rugby World Cup: Argentina v England |
|---|
Venue: Stade de France, Paris Date: Friday, 27 October Kick-off: 20:00 BST |
Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, plus text updates on the BBC Sport website and app. |
Jonny May believes England are in good hands under coach Steve Borthwick, who the winger has described as a "genius".
Borthwick, who took charge in December 2022, guided England to the brink of the Rugby World Cup final in France.
They were knocked out by defending champions South Africa despite leading the Springboks for the majority of the semi-final in Paris on Saturday.
"We're starting to see what a genius Steve is in terms of how he's starting to get this team going," May said.
England entered the World Cup having lost three of their four warm-up games, following on from a disappointing Six Nations tournament in which they won only two of their five matches.
But they have steadily improved during the World Cup, culminating in an outstanding display in the 16-15 loss against South Africa.
May believes Borthwick's methods are like the scientist who cracked the Enigma code and saved millions of lives in World War Two.
"You won't find a harder working man than Steve and his approach to the game is a little bit like Alan Turing," added the Gloucester winger.
"If anybody is going to crack the code to rugby it will be Steve - he's getting ever closer each week and good luck to him.
"He's got an analytical brain and an evidence-based, scientific, Spock-like approach to the game.
"I've learned a lot from him. I've been very grateful for all the coaches I've had throughout my career and I've absorbed everything I possibly can, always trying to learn and be curious.
"But Steve, with his ways, he's on to something. He's a young coach and has this unique and different way that he goes about the game.
"Cracking it is not something I'm interested in doing as the game gets more complicated each week, but he's obsessed with it so hats off to him."
Jonny May has started five of England's six matches at the Rugby World Cup
May was not included in Borthwick's initial 33-man squad for the tournament but was called up when Anthony Watson pulled out because of injury and has been a regular starter in France.
However, at age 33, he is unsure if he will play for his country again after Friday's third-place play-off against Argentina.
"Never say never, but very much in my head now I'm thinking, more than likely that I'll be done after this," said May, who is second on England's all-time list of leading try-scorers behind Rory Underwood.
"For me no regrets, what a journey, I wasn't even going to be on the plane at one point.
"But I stuck in there and that's the attitude across the team - we stick in there, we've had pretty much everything thrown at us, but we're starting to find ourselves.
"I'm grateful to have been a part of it and although it probably won't continue after this World Cup, I feel like I'm connected to this team.
"It's been everything to me, playing for England, just absolutely everything."
What's next for Putin after the mercenaries' challenge? Panorama investigates the mutiny led by Prigozhin and its consequences for the Russian president
The Ghosts are returning to haunt Alison and Mike: Watch the fifth and final series of the grown-up comedy from the Horrible Histories team
