Assistant coach Steve Borthwick will leave his role as England assistant coach at the end of the season.

Bothwick joined the England set-up as forwards coach in December 2015, having previously also worked under Eddie Jones when he was in charge of Japan.

But the recent appointment of Matt Proudfoot as England forwards coach resulted in Borthwick’s demotion to skills coach for the upcoming Six Nations. However, the RFU has now confirmed that the 40-year-old will move at the end of the season, with Australian Jason Ryles coming in as his replacement.

It has been confirmed that Borthwick will take over as head coach of the Leicester Tigers after the Six Nations.

‘The past four years has been an incredible journey for me with this England team. I have enjoyed the experience working with such a talented and special group of players,’ Borthwick said.

‘It has been great to work for Eddie over this period of time and I would like to thank him and the other coaches and staff for all their support and help.

‘I am very proud of what we have achieved as a team since 2016, culminating in a Rugby World Cup final last year. Having come back from Japan, spent time with my family and reflected on my time with England, I have decided to step away from the role towards the end of the season.’

Jones thanked Borthwick for his work, support and loyalty throughout their working relationship.

‘I have had a great seven years with Steve. He is a loyal, hard-working and analytical coach but I understand he needs now to get out on his own following this campaign. He’s made that decision and we are really pleased for him,’ Jones explained.

‘One of my roles has been to develop English coaches and so it has been great to see coaches leave this programme to further their careers with the likes of Paul Gustard at Harlequins and Neal Hatley at Bath Rugby. We have put three good young coaches back into the system.’

Ryles, who is currently coaching at NRL side Melbourne Storm, will join Jones’ coaching staff ahead of the end-of-year Tests in November as skills coach.

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