Lions coaching quartet will mastermind success over All Blacks

  • 08/12/2016
Lions coaching staff (Reuters)
Lions coaching staff (Reuters)

England head coach Eddie Jones thinks Steve Borthwick will find the key to beating New Zealand with the British and Irish Lions.

Red Rose forwards coach Borthwick was named by Lions chief Warren Gatland as part of his team for next summer's New Zealand tour.

Jones has not been shy in saying he wants England to be ranked No.1 in the world and he believes that Borthwick will provide vital insight after working to plot the All Blacks' downfall.

"It's a great learning experience for him and he gets the opportunity of learning how to beat the Kiwis, which is important," Jones told Sky Sports HQ.

"He's a very analytical coach, a very serious coach and he knows more about line-outs than anyone else in the world.

"He gets the chance to learn about New Zealand rugby culture and the chance to play basically 10 Tests against the best players in New Zealand and by the end of it, if he hasn't beaten New Zealand he should know how to beat New Zealand."

Lions coaching quartet will mastermind success over All Blacks
Lions coaching quartet will mastermind success over All Blacks

(Getty Images)

Ireland defence specialist Andy Farrell and current Wales interim head coach Rob Howley will also join Gatland on the 10-match trip.

Ex-England skipper and current Red Rose forwards coach Borthwick is a Lions newcomer, but he has made a considerable impression during England's spectacular unbeaten revival under their Australian head coach Jones.

England went unbeaten in 12 months under Jones and the 37-21 defeat of Australia at Twickenham meant they equalled the record of 14 successive Test triumphs set by Sir Clive Woodward's World Cup winners in 2002-03.

Reigning world champions New Zealand are at the summit of the rankings and Jones already has an idea of what England need to do to topple them.

"New Zealand are very good at the unstructured part of the game, when the game is in a disorganised state," the 56-year-old said.

"That's an area we have improved immeasurably in but to beat New Zealand we will have to be as good as them in that area.

"When they get a ball in an unstructured situation the ability of our defence to reorganise itself quickly and kill the threat or to slow them down is going to be really important.

"We want to be the No.1 team in the world. We want to come up with a game to beat them but we want to come up with a game to beat anyone in the world.

"We talk about it all the time. And the great thing is the players are now starting to talk about it. And if you say things enough times you believe it."

PA