Former Hutton Grammar School star and England head coach Steve Borthwick has not forgotten his roots

But one man in the crowd who still left Twickenham with a smile on his face was Graham Aitchison.

Aitchison was Borthwick’s PE teacher and rugby coach when the former Preston Grasshoppers player was a pupil at Hutton Grammar School in the 1990s.

Aitchison is still teaching at the school, which takes great pride in the steps Borthwick is now making as England head coach.

“We're very proud of him and we let him know regularly,” he said. “We're still in touch with him but as a school we're immensely proud because it's everything he's strived for really.”

The subject leader for PE at Hutton went to the game at Twickenham last weekend – which Scotland won 29-23 - to show support for his 43-year-old former student.

Since Borthwick left in 1998 he has stayed in contact with the school, which Aitchison says is a “big” thing.

“We've pretty much followed his whole career, but he's always kept in touch with the school which is really nice because he's never really forgotten his roots of where he started playing rugby,” he said. “Even when I sent him a text at the weekend consoling him for the defeat against Scotland, he still replies back, which he doesn't need to do because I'm sure he's got plenty on his plate at the moment.”

Even more than two decades on from when he left the school, Aitchison still uses Borthwick as an inspiration to current students.

He said: “He’s an example to any young man who's striving to become a professional.

“We've seen the journey that he's taken but it’s the attitude that he had, and I think that's the thing.

“You can have all the talent in the world, but if you haven't got the attitude or the want to do it, the drive to do it, then it makes it much more difficult.

“He's definitely the benchmark for us as a school.”

Borthwick has captained and led many teams through his career such as England and Aitchison remembered back in his junior days how the Cumbrian was already showing leadership qualities beyond his years.

“When they got to the Daily Mail semi-final, one game away from Twickenham he was so disappointed,” he said.

“His leadership qualities came through as he was so disappointed, mainly for the other players because obviously he was going to have his opportunity at Twickenham – in fact he'd already had it – and he knew that the other players might not get that opportunity.”

Borthwick and England now gear up for their second Six Nations match against Italy on Sunday looking to bounce back from the opening-day Calcutta Cup defeat.

Aitchison thought there were positives from the defeat and believes Borthwick will do it his way as he looks to steer the nation into a World Cup later this year.

He said: “I think theplayers will get clarity with him.

“The fact that he's quite humble as well means he'll get expertise in from different areas that he needs.

“It'll be his team’s coaching team rather than trying to mimic something else.”