The Talk of Rugby: While Eddie Jones has a new deal, his assistants have to wait

Eddie Jones (centre) with his assistant coaches Steve Borthwick (left) and Paul Gustard (right)
Eddie Jones (centre) with his assistant coaches Steve Borthwick (left) and Paul Gustard (right) Credit: GETTY IMAGES

The Rugby Football Union has moved swiftly to secure a two-year extension to Eddie Jones’ contract, but the position of his coaching team appears to be less clear.

When, four years ago, the RFU offered former England head coach Stuart Lancaster a six-year extension ahead of the 2015 World Cup (that contract was not due to expire until 2020), his coaching team of Andy Farrell, Graham Rowntree and Mike Catt were treated as part of the package.

And while the RFU has begun talks with Jones’ coaching team of Paul Gustard, Steve Borthwick and Neal Hatley, it is not yet certain whether they will also be offered extensions beyond the World Cup in Japan next year.

“It’s important to look at the whole coaching team,” said Steve Brown, the RFU chief executive. “We wanted to get Eddie sorted. I’ve spoken to two of the three, one later. Eddie has spoken to them, too. We very much want to support these guys, develop them but we need to make the evaluation over the next couple of months. We’re not going to let that be a distraction through the Six Nations. We’ll deal with it afterwards.”

If the RFU is looking for English candidates with Test experience, Gustard and Borthwick must come under consideration for the head coach job to succeed Jones.

Jones, however, refuses to be drawn on whether either are ready to step up. “It’s not my decision, that’s an RFU decision,” he said. “Steve [Brown] and the panel will decide on that. I don’t think it’s for me to make judgment on whether staff are ready to step  up or not. Steve [Borthwick’s] responsibility is to coach the forwards and make them the best forward pack  by 2019 and he’s going to be busy doing that.”

Funding for coaches to head south so they can gain experience

The RFU’s new long-term succession policy for recruiting a head coach with international experience could see the governing body fund an English coach to spend time in the southern hemisphere.

New Zealand have benefited hugely in the professional era from their emerging coaches broadening their experience in the northern hemisphere. Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith, the masterminds of the All Blacks 2011 World Cup triumph, all coached in Europe before returning to New Zealand.

Warren Gatland, Joe Schmidt, Vern Cotter, Wayne Pivac and Dave Rennie are the current leading Kiwis holding top coaching positions in the northern hemisphere.

In contrast the fact that Super Rugby sides in the southern hemisphere are all owned by the respective unions in Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand has traditionally made it more difficult for young coaches from the northern hemisphere to gain employment.

Steve Hansen
New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen (right) benefited from coaching Wales Credit: PA

However, it is understood that the RFU’s professional rugby director, Nigel Melville, is heading up a coaching development unit to consider how young English coaches can gain a foothold in the southern hemisphere, and the governing body is prepared to back that ambition with money.

“We would definitely consider what we can do to support individual development,” said Brown. “When we get to our shorter list, when we get further out, we will definitely be looking at how we can support that exposure in different parts of the world as well.

“It depends on the circumstances, it’s hard to plan it. Partly it might be about money, it might be investment, it might be working very closely with another union or certainly with a club if it was an English coach, it could be any permutation. We’re not locking down any option or opportunity down but we could certainly get behind that.”

Premiership season extension bid to fail

The make-up of the domestic campaign as part of a new global season from 2019 is thought to be close to being resolved.

The Professional Game Board is due to hold a meeting next week at which concrete proposals will be discussed. With the Six Nations now set to remain as a seven-week tournament, the key discussions will involve the start and finish of the domestic season.

The RFU has been compiling data about the workloads for international and non-international players and it is thought that the Premiership’s desire for extending the season to 10 months is unlikely to secure enough support to come to pass.

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