Steve Borthwick’s England regime has been hit by another blow with the news one of his team’s key back-room members will be joining rivals South Africa.
On the back of what was statistically their worst Six Nations in history – which featured just one win and a fifth-place finish – head coach Borthwick has now lost senior analyst Joe Lewis to Rassie Erasmus’ Springbok set-up.
Lewis – who was in his second spell with England – has been placed on gardening leave, but will be part of the South Africa set-up by the summer.
The next challenge for Borthwick’s England is against the back-to-back world champions on July 4, by which time Lewis will have switched camps.
He follows former England assistant Felix Jones in leaving their RFU roles to work under Erasmus.
‘We are delighted to welcome Joe to the Springbok team,’ said Springbok boss Erasmus.
England have lost analyst Joe Lewis to rivals South Africa after their worst Six Nations in history
It comes as another major blow to the regime of Steve Borthwick, with Lewis currently on gardening leave
‘Given his vast experience in technical and performance analysis at international and club level, we believe he will add great value to the squad as we prepare for a busy and exciting season and further ahead to the 2027 World Cup. His roles have seen him gain invaluable experience at the highest level of the game — at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, in the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup, among other big tournaments.
‘We have no doubt he’ll slot into our set-up seamlessly.’
