Steve Borthwick vows to ignore England head coach links

Leicester's Borthwick won his encounter with Exeter and Baxter (right) on Sunday

Steve Borthwick says he has "plenty on his plate" at Leicester and will not be distracted by the prospect of taking over from Eddie Jones as England coach.

Borthwick, 42, is a leading contender given his international experience and the way he has revolutionised the table-topping Tigers.

"You have to look at what is immediately in front of you," he said.

Borthwick, who won 57 caps and captained England, also told BBC Radio 5 Live: "If you keep trying to control what is immediately in front of you, then that is what we will do with this team.

"If I can keep doing that with this team then hopefully these young men can do very well."

Borthwick moved into coaching permanently following his playing retirement in 2014. He was part of Jones' backroom team with Japan at the 2015 World Cup, before joining England as an assistant between 2015 and 2020 - a period in which he also coached the British and Irish Lions in New Zealand in 2017.

He left the England set-up to move to Welford Road in the summer of 2020, taking over the control of all rugby matters at the end of that year following the departure of Geordan Murphy.

Borthwick and Jones have worked together at Saracens, Japan and England in the past

Under his guidance, Leicester have enjoyed a startlingly dominant campaign, winning 17 of 20 league matches and cementing a semi-final place by the end of March.

"I've got plenty on my plate at Leicester Tigers right now, with a game Tuesday night [in the Premiership Rugby Cup] and then Clermont away in our European adventure," Borthwick added.

"That is [what is getting] all my attention."

Another candidate to replace Jones is long-standing Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter, who led the Chiefs from the second tier to an historic European and Premiership double in 2020.

Along with Saracens boss Mark McCall, Baxter has been the predominant coaching figure in the English club game for the past decade, with Exeter reaching the last six Premiership finals.

However, this season has been more of a challenge, with the Chiefs far from guaranteed a top-four place after recent losses to Worcester and Leicester.

"Right here and now I am going to concentrate on trying to win some games of rugby for Exeter," Baxter told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"England might be looking at what is going on here and I might be the last candidate they want!

"So right here and now, regardless of anything else, we are going to focus on winning some games here."

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