5:50pm Friday 5th June 2009
By Simon Mail
Steve Borthwick is determined to put last season's disappointments behind him by helping the club win silverware in the forthcoming campaign.
The England and Saracens skipper arrived at Vicarage Road from Bath last summer hoping to guide the Men in Black to a trophy under the leadership of director of rugby Eddie Jones. But the much-heralded Australian coach left in March after falling out with the Saracens board over the direction of the Guinness Premiership club.
Borthwick was unable to guide Sarries to a trophy or a Heineken Cup place but despite the unrest off the pitch he insists he is still committed to the side.
The England lock said: "As a club, you want to be in the top tier of every single competition and challenging for every honour going. Unfortunately that hasn't happened and it's a disappointment. What we need to do now is ensure over the pre-season we work hard to be a stronger side next year so we get to lift silverware next season.
"It's been a year where I have faced challenges. It's certainly one where I have learnt a lot playing with some fantastic players and some outstanding coaches. From a personal point of view it's been a good year in terms of learning.
"Obviously we all have high expectations and to finish the season the way we have is really disappointing. It hurts all the players especially with the fantastic fans we have.
"We've missed out on the expectations that we started the season with and that's disappointing. But it's a year we can take a lot from both personally and from a team point of view and ensure we are a stronger team in the future."
Borthwick, who was talking at Citygate Volkswagen, in Chalk Hill, Watford, as he collected his new Touareg, is grateful he had the opportunity to work with Jones but admits he was surprised by his departure.
He explained: "Eddie Jones is a brilliant coach and I think it was great for me that I had the opportunity to work with him and learn from him, albeit for a much shorter time than I would have liked.
"It was disappointing he left but great credit has to go to Richard Graham and the coaching team for the work they did in this latter part of the season after Eddie departed.
"I think you can't expect things like that. Quite clearly I signed to a vision Eddie Jones sold to me so I didn't expect that to change. Obviously that didn't come to fruition and clearly it was a surprise."
The 29-year-old is optimistic Saracens can finally realise their potential next season under incoming director of rugby Brendan Venter. Borthwick has met the South African on a number of occasions and believes he will have a positive impact on the squad.
"It's exciting looking forward now with Brendan Venter coming in and a few different changes on the management and playing side," he said.
"There is an opportunity to learn from different coaches. Brendan's worked with us as a consultant since the start of the season so I've met him several times and played against him and teams he has coached at London Irish.
"He knows the Premiership well, he is a tremendously experienced rugby person and I think he'll bring a different influence.
"As a person he was great around the squad when he was over and I think the players really responded to the way he coaches. But I'm always excited at the fantastic opportunities in rugby and I think it's an exciting time for everybody involved at Saracens."
Borthwick will lead England in two Tests against Argentina over the next week fresh from suffering a defeat at Twickenham to the Barbarians on Saturday.
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