Rugby: Borthwick's Captaincy

Amongst all the doom and gloom in the press surrounding the retention of Steve Borthwick as England captain, Bryn Palmer has broken the decision down on the BBC website. He concludes, much as I did back in the autumn, that Borthwick may not be the most inspirational choice, but right now he is the only logical one, and that is a realistic reflection of England's place in the world at the moment, and their talent pool, rather than blind loyalty on the part of Martin Johnson.



Northampton's Lawes is pushing for Borthwick's starting place

England will no doubt have mixed results in the Six Nations, and Borthwick will cop a lot of criticism, but until a more qualified candidate comes up either in the second row, or for the captaincy, he is the man for the job. It is easy for pundits to throw around names like Courtney Lawes, but the truth is that England's pool is very shallow when it comes to second rows and captains, and Lawes cannot even get into the Northampton team on a regular basis. Hopefully come the autumn, more players will have established themselves, and there will be alternatives in both roles, but for now England actually have greater concerns, such as establishing a regular team and some positive results. Focus on those, and the captaincy will take care of itself in due course.