Borthwick bolsters England backroom staff with Dan Tobin brought in

  • Tobin joins as strength and conditioning coach
  • England lost Walters, Tombleson and Jones this summer

Steve Borthwick has made the first appointment to his depleted backroom staff following a summer of upheaval with Gloucester’s Dan Tobin joining as strength and conditioning coach.

Borthwick lost the vastly popular head of strength and conditioning Aled Walters to Ireland last month while S&C coach Tom Tombleson also moved on after 10 years with the set-up. Felix Jones also tendered his resignation as defence coach.

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Paul Magnier exploits ‘mousehole’ to take fourth stage of Tour of Britain

  • Frenchman moves past Ethan Vernon to grab win
  • Steve Williams holds on to overall lead in Newark

The list of previous Tour of Britain winners in Newark is short, but it points to a promising future for the Frenchman Paul Magnier, who took his second stage win in four days on the banks of the Trent. Colombia’s Fernando Gaviria (2017) and the Dutchman Olav Kooij (2023) are both sprint names to be reckoned with, and these two incisive victories suggest the 20-year-old Magnier is on the same road.

This was a finely calculated effort in a slightly less technical finish than in Kelso on Tuesday. The Israel- Premier Tech sprinter Ethan Vernon led out and as the road drifted slightly to the right, Magnier came up the narrow gap on Vernon’s left side, “through a mousehole” as Magnier put it, and the 24-year-old from Bedford resisted the temptation to close the door, giving the Frenchman a clear run to the line.

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