Gatland: England Not Picking Jack Willis Is Surprising, But Borthwick's Hands Are Tied

Speaking exclusively to BOYLE Sports , three-time Lions coach Warren Gatland has given his verdict on the dilemmas facing Steve Borthwick and England ahead of the 2027 World Cup .

Gatland has questioned why England will not select the France -based Willis brothers, called for a grown-up debate on a cap rule for overseas players, and explained why he rates Borthwick as technically outstanding but currently hamstrung.

The former coach has also addressed whether England missed a trick in not hiring Shaun Edwards , drawn on the team-building example of Alex Ferguson , and set out what Borthwick must do with this autumn's fixtures.

Shaun Edwards and Alex Ferguson

Have England Missed a Trick Not Using Shaun Edwards?

I don't know. It's sometimes hard in those situations because if Shaun 's coming in, then someone's going out potentially, isn't it? So maybe Steve felt that he was comfortable with who he had in place and the structures in place, and I think Shaun respected that. If there was something available for him, he would have loved to do it. Some coaches make changes because they think that's good for the environment. Alex Ferguson was a prime example with Manchester United , in terms of continually freshening things up.

Growing up in New Zealand , I was kind of a Manchester United supporter. The only time you ever saw football in New Zealand on TV was basically the FA Cup final. I followed them, and obviously the record and success that Alex had is unbelievable.

Roger Lewis told me a story one day that he met him at the races, and there was a big controversy about me dropping Brian O'Driscoll from the Lions in 2013. Roger told me that Alex said, tell your coach he made the right decision. Not because he knew anything about the rugby specifics, but because he obviously would have been in that situation on a huge number of occasions where he's had hard choices and had to back himself. I thought that was quite a compliment.

The Willis Brothers

Is It Absurd That England Won't Pick Jack Willis?

That is surprising now that you're down to ten teams in the Prem. With England being such a massive rugby-playing nation, if you had fourteen teams back in the Premiership , maybe you'd look at it differently.

But people had to make decisions, and it wasn't just Wasps , London Irish , and Worcester who were struggling financially. You have to be aware of that.

Playing rugby is not forever. If you're lucky, you get ten or twelve years at it at a reasonable level, and the first few years you're not paid very well, and then hopefully you get some reasonable money to help set you up financially. You can't blame players for taking those opportunities.

We had a number of players when we were going well at Wales who were targeted by French clubs: Jonathan Davies , Jamie Roberts , Dan Biggar . They would come and talk to me. I'd say, look, I'm going to say publicly how disappointed we are and that we'd love to keep you, but my conversation with you privately is that you have to make the best decision for your future and your family.

Can England Afford to Ignore the Claims of Willis?

It's something they need to look at. Are they worried about how strong French club rugby is and the money in the game? Would they lose a lot more players, or do they bring in a cap rule where, after you've had thirty or forty caps for England , they will still select you if you play outside of England ?

There's so much politics going on with the relationship between the RFU , the clubs, and PRL . Obviously, the clubs want to keep their squads strong and not weakened by players playing overseas.

But I think you can have a really positive discussion around it. Is there a cap rule? Is it a limited number of overseas players you can pick in your squad, like two or three? If you're a player, you're taking a bit of a risk.

Surely from an England perspective, you want your best players available to you when you go and play in the World Cup . I haven't heard Steve Borthwick say too much about it; his hands are tied at the moment.

Borthwick's England

Does It Amaze You England Have Only Won the World Cup Once?

There's a huge amount of depth in England . I think aligning their pathways and schools could make a big difference for the future. That's a real strength in South Africa and New Zealand ; it comes through their school system. I know there are really strong schools in England , but I'm not sure the structure or the pathways and competitions are designed well enough to get players competing at the top under pressure.

Given the resources they've got, it's hard. And there's a lot of expectation as well.

How Will England Go Against Australia and New Zealand?

There's a lot at stake in terms of results. You lose, and people lose their jobs. It's massive for the union from a financial perspective in terms of keeping the books ticking over, and if crowds drop, that can be challenging.

If I was Steve , I'd probably be using this time to communicate what my plan is for the next four games, for the Six Nations , and building into the World Cup . Some teams don't get that luxury to make changes and build depth because there's so much expectation on them winning.

Steve is probably a little bit hamstrung to make changes because of that expectation to get results, but I'd be getting out there and telling people my plan.

How Do You Rate Steve Borthwick as a Coach?

He was on the Lions with me in 2017, so I know him well. Technically, he's outstanding. I was impressed with his technical abilities. He went to Leicester , was successful, and then England came along.

Sometimes it just takes a while to build into international coaching. A lot of people don't realise the amount of pressure on an international coach, the expectation, dealing with the union, the media, the criticism.

It's a results-based business, and everyone expects their team to be winning. The English reporters expect it, the Irish , Welsh , New Zealanders . Everyone wants to win, and not everyone can.

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