• England’s No 2 will join Tigers at end of season • Geordan Murphy moving to the role of director of rugby

Leicester have announced Steve Borthwick is to become their head coach at the end of the season with Geordan Murphy moving to the role of director of rugby.

Borthwick will leave his post as No 2 to Eddie Jones before the July tour to Japan, meaning the Six Nations match against Italy on 14 March will be his final game with England.

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“Steve has a wealth of knowledge and experience at the very highest level as a player and now as a coach and has a clear vision of where he wants to take the team,” the Leicester chairman, Peter Tom, said.

The former Bath and Saracens lock Borthwick won 57 caps for England as a player before moving into coaching. He was Jones’s assistant with Japan before being appointed forwards coach of Bristol in 2015. He left the then Championship club later that year to take up a similar role with England alongside the newly appointed head coach Jones.

The former England captain, 40, paid tribute to Jones as he looked ahead to taking on the Leicester job, saying: “The last four-and-a-half years working with the England team has been an incredible journey. I have worked with some brilliant players and staff. In particular I would like thank Eddie Jones. To have worked with one of the greatest head coaches in the world for so long has been an unbelievable experience.

“I am delighted to be joining Leicester Tigers as head coach. The Tigers have such a long and successful history, and are one of the greatest rugby clubs in the game. Welford Road, with the special atmosphere created by the club’s incredible supporters roaring their team forward, is a very special place to be.

“We must now work to build upon that great history, and create our future to get this club to the top of European rugby. It is a brilliant challenge and I am excited to start working with the players and everybody associated with the team.”