England men’s head coach Steve Borthwick has appointed Dan Tobin to his coaching team as a strength and conditioning coach. The 40-year-old joins the England men’s set-up in October from Gloucester Rugby where he worked as head of performance for the last eight years.
Tobin takes over the role left by Aled Walters, who exited the England team after the Summer tour to New Zealand, and has since taken up a role amongst the Ireland squad, headed up by Andy Farrell.
Prior to his time at Kingsholm, Tobin spent a decade as a strength and conditioning coach at Leinster Rugby, and several years at the Dublin GAA Senior Football Team.
Tobin, a former Irish international sprinter, will be tasked with optimising the physical performance of the England squad and ensuring the players are physically prepared to meet the demands of Test match rugby.
“We are very pleased to be welcoming Dan to the coaching team and excited to see the impact he’ll make,” said Borthwick.
“Dan is an outstanding S&C coach, who has a wealth of rugby experience and a proven track record in maximising the physical performance of his players and helping them reach their full potential.”
Tobin added: “I feel honoured to be joining England and to be working with such a talented group of players and coaches.
“I’m excited by the progress the team has made over the last 12 months and I look forward to contributing to its success.”
England welcome New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Saturday 2 November (kick-off 3.10pm) for their first match of the 2024 Autumn Nations Series, before taking on Australia, South Africa and Japan.
MARTIN JOHNSON ALL-TIME XV
Martin Johnson has selected his greatest rugby union XV, but there is no room in his selection for Lawrence Dallaglio, Shane Williams, Brian O’Driscoll or Jason Robinson.
As a player he famously led England to glory at the 2003 Rugby World Cup and also captained the British & Irish Lions in 1997 and 2001 – the first player to have ever led the elite tourists on two occasions.
In a glittering career Johnson was also part of two Grand Slam-winning England sides in 1995 and again as captain in 2003.
Here, Johnson names his stunning dream team.
BACK-THREE:
- Fullback: Serge Blanco (France) – “A great France full back who dominated games.”
- Winger: Joe Roff (Australia) – “You’d put David Campese up there but Roff is my choice. A fantastic all-round rugby player, and old-style wing.”
- Winger: Jonah Lomu (New Zealand) – “Not much difficulty in choosing one of the most awesome wings to have ever played.”
CENTRES:
- Outside-centre: Philippe Sella (France) – “I used to watch him as a kid on TV and think he was brilliant; and then ten years later I played against him and he was still brilliant. He still looks as if he could play for France today. One of the best backs I’ve ever seen. If you hit him it was like running into concrete.”
- Inside-centre: Danie Gerber (South Africa) – “Scored a hat-trick against England in the first half in one match in the 1980s. He didn’t play many Tests because of apartheid, but he had power and pace. I don’t know if he could pass: it seemed like he never needed to. I played against him in a charity match in 1996 when he must have been well into his 40s, he was still awesome.”