Blow for Borthwick as England fitness guru defects to Ireland

England’s revival under Steve Borthwick has suffered a significant blow with their highly rated strength and conditioning coach Aled Walters leaving to join their rivals Ireland.
Borthwick brought the Welshman to English rugby during his time as the head coach of Leicester Tigers and then persuaded him to join his England coaching team when he was appointed as the successor to Eddie Jones in December 2022.
After a disappointing World Cup campaign England showed signs of improvement in the 2024 Six Nations, which included a 23-22 victory over Ireland at Twickenham.
But the RFU has been unable to prevent Walters, who was keen to return to Ireland having spent six years working for Munster until 2018, from departing the English set-up.
Walters, who worked with South Africa on the way to their World Cup victory in Japan in 2019, will work under Andy Farrell, the Ireland head coach, who led his side to a drawn Test series in South Africa this summer, leaving them second in the world rankings, three places above England, who suffered two narrow defeats in New Zealand.
“We are delighted that Aled has agreed to join the Ireland team,” Farrell said. “He has a wealth of experience and has been a key part of many successful environments over the course of his career. I know how excited he is to return to Ireland and hit the ground running and I’m confident that he’ll play an important role in the squad.”
Borthwick, in concert with Calvin Morriss, the RFU’s head of athletic performance, have already begun the recruitment process for Walters’s successor. “We’d like to thank Aled for his contribution to England rugby,” Borthwick said. “He is an excellent coach and has worked hard to help develop the current squad over the past 12 months. He leaves with our very best wishes.”
While Jones’s tenure was characterised by an ever-revolving roster of assistant coaches, Borthwick places much greater value on loyalty and consistency, reflected in the fact that, along with Walters, Kevin Sinfield, Richard Wigglesworth and Tom Harrison were also recruited from Leicester to join the national team’s coaching set-up. Wigglesworth is in charge of England’s attack, while Harrison works with the scrum.
Sinfield, initially defence coach and more recently in charge of skills and kicking, had indicated that he would leave after the summer tour to New Zealand, but attempts have been made to persuade him to take up a part-time role from November, although no agreement has yet been reached.
Sinfield was replaced as defence coach by Felix Jones, another former Springboks employee, who introduced the blitz defence system that has helped to take England’s game forward in the past six months.
But Walters’s willingness not only to leave England but to join their close rivals is another reminder of the attractiveness of the Irish system for international coaches. The IRFU’s central contracts system gives Farrell and his coaching team full control of their players’ programmes, which will allow Walters much greater influence in developing the squad’s athletic profile.
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England, in contrast, are still to finalise the details of a £33million agreement with Gallagher Premiership clubs that includes a form of central “hybrid” contracts for up to 25 players. But the amount of control that will be afforded to Borthwick remains unclear, and it will certainly not match that enjoyed by Farrell and his colleagues. Walters’s departure reiterates that the disjointed nature of the English system makes working for the national team a less attractive proposition than more streamlined systems.