Byron McGuigan will join England’s staff on a permanent basis from this summer to complete the revamp of Steve Borthwick’s coaching group.
Former Scotland winger McGuigan, 36, initially joined Borthwick’s team for last summer’s tour of Argentina and the USA while continuing his main role as defence coach at Sale Sharks.
That agreement was extended through the Autumn Nations Series in November and the Six Nations earlier this spring, where England won just one match, lost to Italy for the first time in their history and came fifth in the table.
Despite that, after a post-tournament review, the RFU backed Borthwick and it was announced in March that McGuigan would be leaving Sale at the end of the campaign.
He has now officially been added to the England coaching staff on a full-time basis, with a focus on collision skills, the aerial contest, and working with the back three.
“Byron is an excellent addition to our coaching group,” said Borthwick. “Since arriving with us last summer, he has made a strong impact through his detailed understanding of the game and the energy he brings.
“His work in supporting the development of our back-three players has already been valuable, and he has also invested a huge amount of time into individual player development across the squad. We’re excited about the contribution he will continue to make.”
During his playing career, McGuigan made more than 100 appearances for Sale and won 10 caps for Scotland before getting coaching experience at grassroots level with the likes of Sandbach, Bowdon and Rossendale before leading the Sharks during the 2023/24 Premiership Rugby Cup campaign and then becoming their defence coach.
“It’s a huge honour to be part of the England set-up,” explained McGuigan. “Since coming into the environment last summer, I’ve been really impressed by the players’ appetite to learn and improve.
“I’m excited to continue supporting the group and helping the players develop as we keep pushing standards forward.”
England will hope the addition of McGuigan finalises their coaching group ahead of the 2027 World Cup after lots of upheaval in the staff over the past couple of years.
Kevin Sinfield was given a slimmed-down role to reduce his workload, appointing Felix Jones as a defence coach was a high-profile coup in the wake of the 2023 World Cup but he resigned seven months later and has since rejoined South Africa, while strength and conditioning Aled Walters stunningly quit to take a similar role with Ireland around the same time and Andrew Strawbridge departed his role at the end of the 2025 autumn internationals.
Joe El-Abd, Lee Blackett, Phil Morrow and now McGuigan have joined to replenish the stocks alongside the likes of Richard Wigglesworth and Borthwick will be keen to maintain continuity with the World Cup now a little over a year away.
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