Toby Flood: Andy Farrell is 'obvious choice' for next England head coach

Despite the overall return of 12 wins from 15 Test matches, which include victories over the likes of New Zealand, Australia and France, England head coach Steve Borthwick finds himself in the hot seat of public opinion. There has been plenty of discourse regarding the former England lock's future at the helm of the national team, with Toby Flood picking out Ireland head coach Andy Farrell as a diligent replacement.

However, following from the recent RFU Statement which backed Steve Borthwick's coaching team for the forseeable future, Flood expects the status quo to be maintained for the time being. Speaking this week to BettingLounge, ahead of England's fifth round Six Nations clash with France, Flood said;

"The RFU didn’t give them a convincing vote of confidence, but with the Bill Sweeneys of this world, you’ve got to hedge your bets. I think they [Borthwick and England coaches] will stay. It would be hard to change now, and the counter-argument is: who replaces them?

"Would it be a Scott Robertson or a Michael Cheika coming off the cab rank? I’m not sure there are that many suitable candidates banging down the door. Andy Farrell would be the obvious choice, but rumors are strong that he has signed for Saracens after the World Cup.

"If you do change, it always takes a huge amount of time to turn the ship around. The real question is whether Borthwick and Wigglesworth can fix this. To do so, they need to start pushing and pressurizing the opposition with the ball in hand, and I don't think they are doing that."

"When things start creaking, you need strong leadership. People were questioning Andy Farrell not long ago, but he found a response by utilizing the emotive connections he has with his players. When things fall apart and you lack that connection - either peer-to-peer or peer-to-coach - it really starts to show."

Flood also said how he felt that England were playing without their usual edge, with no willingness to take risks so far throughout the Championship. The former Newcastle Falcons and Leicester Tigers man pins this down to a lack of confidence from within the group.

"There seems to be a lack of confidence around the side and a lack of willingness to take risks, which has been really interesting. There’s a noticeable lack of appetite - likely not from the players, but from the coaching staff - to move the ball around and put teams under pressure with ball in hand.

"We all know Steve Borthwick is very statistically driven: do X, get Y. Rugby can work like that at the international level where the game is more controlled. However, the boys who play week in, week out in the Premiership achieve far more and push the envelope, exposing themselves to risk for their clubs. In the past three England games, there has been a real lack of that.

"Also, England’s previous 12-game winning run was based predominantly at Twickenham, apart from the two-match series in Argentina. That "Fortress Twickenham" mentality surely played a part in that success."

Flood then expressed his frustration at how England insisted on kicking the ball away in the latter stages of their recent Six Nations defeats. Borthwick's side would put boot to ball even as they chased the game, to hand possession back to the likes of Scotland, Ireland and Italy throughout their past string of defeats.

"England were kicking the ball away with two minutes to go. Why?! Steve [Borthwick] and [Richard] Wigglesworth have grown up on that Saracens mantra of kicking the ball, making the opposition work from deep, and putting them under so much pressure that they have to chase the game. The problem is that when England are asked to chase a game, they don't have those components in their arsenal because they've never had to learn them.

"They also don’t have a defense that is going to absolutely destroy you, like Saracens did. Teams are finding ways to score against England, which means they are always in a battle at the 40-to-60-minute mark, creating an environment where they can't effectively chase the game."

"The main problem is that the team is struggling to solve an issue it physically cannot solve because of how it has been set up. You can't find a solution when you aren't defending well, you’re kicking the ball away, and you're handing possession straight back to the opposition."