{"id":611127,"date":"2026-09-09T22:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T22:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/611127\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T22:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T22:16:11","slug":"england-to-extend-borthwick-contract-as-pollock-closes-on-400000-northampton-deal-england-rugby-union-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/611127\/","title":{"rendered":"England to extend Borthwick contract as Pollock closes on \u00a3400,000 Northampton deal | England rugby union team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Borthwick will be handed a contract extension until after the 2028 Six Nations, giving the Rugby Football Union<\/a> time to identify his successor if England flop at the World Cup next year.<\/p>\n

The RFU\u2019s move is designed to avoid uncertainty heading into the tournament but stops short of backing Borthwick in the long-term.<\/p>\n

Borthwick\u2019s contract had been due to expire at the end of the World Cup and the RFU\u2019s director of performance, Conor O\u2019Shea, has made clear that his future beyond that is dependent on how England perform in Australia.<\/p>\n

The head coach came out of England\u2019s worst Six Nations campaign this year under considerable pressure but the RFU has given its backing for Borthwick to lead the side into the tournament next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want them looking for a job going into [a World Cup],\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cEveryone knows it will be judged on the World Cup, but you can\u2019t have a group of coaches going in with that uncertainty, especially when you look at the timing. So we will give that certainty, and that will give us time to look properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea has made clear that Borthwick must target World Cup glory in Australia and, while Andy Farrell has been handed a contract with Ireland through to 2031, the RFU has not presented Borthwick with similar long\u2011term backing.<\/p>\n

England were thrashed by South Africa<\/a> at the start of their summer tour before a comfortable victory against Fiji and a narrow win against Argentina. Borthwick\u2019s job will come under further pressure if England disappoint in autumn fixtures against Australia, Japan and New Zealand as well as a final weekend rankings match.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see in Steve someone who bleeds England and wants England to succeed more than anything you can imagine,\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cThis England team is unequivocally one of probably five teams who can win the World Cup next year. I believe this team can win a World Cup. Is the talent there? One hundred percent. If over this next 12 months this England team shows the best version of itself, I know it can beat anyone in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The RFU, meanwhile, has announced a new money-spinning venture with England jerseys to have a sponsor emblazoned across the back for the first time. The deal with Lloyds Bank is thought to be worth \u00a35m a year, with the RFU\u2019s chief executive, Bill Sweeney, claiming the arrangement gives the union the \u201clargest sponsorship revenue in world rugby\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Guardian revealed the RFU was on the verge of confirming the deal as the latest in a string of new sponsorships. England jerseys will feature the Lloyds logo during the Nations Championship this autumn, bringing the RFU in line with rivals such as France, who have a similar arrangement with Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale. Under the World Cup\u2019s rules, however, England will not be permitted to have sponsorship logos on jerseys during the tournament next year.<\/p>\n

As part of the multi-year deal, the Lloyds black horse will feature on the jerseys of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams as well as the training jackets. The jerseys will continue to feature the O2 logo on the front while the RFU secured a kit deal with Castore in 2025.<\/p>\n

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The RFU is attempting to diversify revenue streams, with the Guardian revealing that the union is expecting to post a \u00a310m loss<\/a> for the financial year ending 2026 compared with \u00a32m the previous year. The union has told its member clubs that England\u2019s dismal performance in the Six Nations was a contributing factor to the forecasted eight-figure loss.<\/p>\n

The year ending 2027 is expected to be more prosperous with sponsorship revenues playing a key factor but the year ending 2028 will incur heavy losses because of the World Cup and the absence of autumn internationals at Twickenham.<\/p>\n

Henry Pollock is poised to roughly triple his salary without Northampton having to break the bank to keep the England star. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Henry Pollock is nearing a new deal with Northampton believed to be worth more than \u00a3400,000, ending speculation over the England flanker\u2019s future The 21-year-old\u2019s agent, Eddie Hearn, had claimed Pollock should be earning \u00a31m a year but the Northampton director of rugby, Phil Dowson, insisted last week that a \u201chappy medium\u201d must be reached.<\/p>\n

Pollock is poised to roughly triple his salary without Northampton having to break the bank to keep the star player, who has 13 England caps to his name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steve Borthwick will be handed a contract extension until after the 2028 Six Nations, giving the Rugby Football…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-611127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}