England coach reveals how close he came to quitting rugby for career in journalism
England U20 boss Mark Mapletoft.
The only happily employed male England coach with a World Cup to his name has revealed how close he came to quitting rugby for a career in journalism.
A turbulent summer for the Red Rose nation saw three senior members of Steve Borthwick’s backroom team depart the set-up in quick succession.
Felix Jones dropped a bombshell by resigning as defence coach eight months into the job, though he still has a notice period to serve. Aled Waters left his role as head of strength and conditioning to join Ireland – following long-serving senior S&C coach Tom Tombleson out the door.
Junior silverware
The one piece of bright news from Twickenham since England’s return home from losing both Tests to New Zealand has been Mark Mapletoft coaching the nation to Junior World Cup glory in South Africa.
A first global title since 2016 at Under-20 level more than vindicated Mapletoft’s decision to stay in the sport after a serious knee injury in September 2000 led him to take a job with the Racing Post.
The former England fly-half takes up the story, telling Planet Rugby: “One day, whilst rehabbing my ACL I saw an advert in the paper asking ‘Are you interested in sport? Are you interested in journalism?’
“I was like, ‘yes’ and ‘yes’, so I applied. I thought no more about it, until I was contacted and invited to come in for an interview?”
Mapletoft was offered a role writing about rugby, both union and league, and for six months, until regaining full fitness, combined rehab and physio with commuting up to Canary Wharf.
“I’d had 15 months on the sidelines at Gloucester a few years earlier with another bad injury,” he says. “So there were no guarantees I was going to get back a second time.
“It made sense to see what else was out there and I did seriously consider journalism. Would I actually have done it? I don’t know. I’m pretty happy with how things turned out.”
“Never wanted to coach”
Quizzed as to whether he could have imagined himself as a World Cup-winning coach during his train journey from Aldershot to the City, Mapletoft admits: “No. Because I can honestly say I never wanted to coach.”
It was only after a dislocated elbow playing for London Irish at Newcastle ended his playing career that a chance conversation with then academy coach Toby Booth lit a spark in him.
“Boothy said I’d make a brilliant coach. I replied that I wouldn’t be able to deal with people like me, it would get me too infuriated,” says Mapletoft.” He said ‘Well, what about younger people’?”
Mapletoft was not convinced. He applied for Head of Rugby at Brighton College but on the day he got the job Saracens advertised for an academy coach. He went there instead.
His journey would take him on to the RFU as a national academy coach and on to Harlequins for nine years coaching first the backs, then the attack, before taking over the head coach gig.
His passion remained in the mentoring field and after helping bring through the likes of Danny Care, Joe Marler, Jordan Turner-Hall and George Lowe he turned to the club’s academy which led him to where he is today.
At the home of English rugby with the U20 Six Nations and World Cup titles to his name.
“World Cup winner has a good ring to it, eh?” he says, relieved to have landed one after Final defeats in 2008 and 2009 during his first stint at Twickenham.
“Did I feel the pressure? No, I saw it as a brilliant opportunity. I felt we were strong physically and mentally. We’d win the Six Nations, beating holders Ireland and world Champions France to the the title.
“So we went to South Africa with a bit of a target on our backs. You could sense, almost feel that pressure on the lads. But you know what, the greater expectation came from within the group. And that I’m incredibly proud of. We set our own standards.”
Happy where he is
With a well-documented turnover of coaches at senior England level, it is valid to ask whether Mapletoft sees his future higher up the Red Rose ladder.
“People ask me what’s next, am I looking at club jobs or something different with England? The truth is, I’m very happy doing what I’m doing.
“Often you think there are better things out there, that the grass is greener elsewhere, but actually what I’m doing is pretty cool. We are all competitive and winning is important, but it’s not the be all and end all.
“It’s the experiences, the developing of people. This cold assessment that if you don’t publicly state you want to coach the Lions or England then you’re not particularly aspirational, I think is a load of rubbish.
“You work out quickly as a coach where your strengths lie. For me personally I really enjoy what I’m doing. People say you can’t be successful and enjoy yourself. I just don’t subscribe to that at all.”
With such a richly talented squad of players at his disposal and England committed to reviving their ‘A’ team as a stepping stone to the senior side, Mapletoft is an obvious contender to lead that project.
The likes of Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale), Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester), Finn Carnduff (Leicester), Junior Kpoku (Racing 92) and Henry Pollock (Northampton) are doubtless already on Borthwick’s radar.
But that quintet, along with Craig Wright (Northampton) and James Halliwell (Bristol), are yet to become first-choice at their clubs so Mapletoft’s guiding hand remains invaluable to their development.
