Eddie Jones will continue his whistle-stop tour of English rugby this weekend amid continuing speculation about the futures of the coaching staff employed under Stuart Lancaster. There is understood to be scant prospect of all three of Lancaster’s assistants surviving but the Rugby Football Union is refusing to issue any further details.
While Jones prepares to watch this weekend’s European games at Exeter and Wasps, sources within the RFU confirmed that private conversations were continuing over the exact make-up of England’s coaching team for the Six Nations Championship. It will surprise few if Steve Borthwick and Paul Gustard, currently working with Bristol and Saracens respectively, end up helping Jones prepare the team for the opening game, against Scotland at Murrayfield on 6 February, with reports on Friday night that both clubs had been approached by the RFU.
Whether any of the existing triumvirate of Graham Rowntree, Andy Farrell and Mike Catt are retained may hinge on their desire to fill potential alternative roles within the RFU. England’s early exit from the World Cup in the pool stages and Lancaster’s subsequent departure as head coach, however, mean Jones has been given free rein to make as many changes of personnel as he wishes.
One man who will definitely be leaving Twickenham is the England kit man, Dave Tennison, whose appeal against the RFU’s decision to sack him is understood to have been unsuccessful. Tennison, 55, was dismissed after it emerged that, among other things, he recommended share tips to the players prior to the tournament. Some players lost significant sums of money after shares in the company concerned, an oil drilling firm, dropped sharply in value.
Jones, meanwhile, has been wasting no time in canvassing opinions across the English game. Having watched Worcester’s match at Sixways on Thursday, he moved on to Gloucester on Friday and will be at Sandy Park for Exeter’s big Champions’ Cup encounter against Clermont Auvergne on Saturday.
On Sunday he is also due to attend the Wasps versus Bath game in Coventry, when a host of England candidates will be in action. Players such as Joe Simpson, James Haskell, Elliot Daly and Matt Mullan will certainly be hoping for big games against a Bath side featuring several of England’s World Cup squad.
