England have again reshuffled their coaching staff with Steve Borthwick recruiting Lee Blackett as attack coach on a permanent basis.
Blackett worked with England during the summer tour of Argentina while Richard Wigglesworth was away with the British and Irish Lions, but now steps up to the national side from Bath in a full-time role.
Wigglesworth will now have responsibility for England’s defence, while Joe El-Abd, added last year after the shock departure of Felix Jones, moves to oversee England’s forwards ahead of the Autumn Nations Series in November.
Blackett has long been regarded as one of English rugby’s brightest attacking minds, playing a key role in Bath’s treble-winning season last year after joining the club following the demise of Wasps, where he was head coach.
He had twice worked with England A before joining up with Borthwick in the summer, where he helped England to two successes against the Pumas in Argentina as well as a win over the USA in Washington DC.
“I am pleased to announce these changes, which I believe will leave us even better placed to continue our development,” Borthwick said. “They allow us to build on the momentum of recent strong results and put the team in the best possible position for the challenges ahead.
“Lee brings great experience and has, for several years, been widely regarded as one of the country’s top attack coaches. His teams play fast, exciting rugby that consistently look to score tries. His work with England over the summer further demonstrated his ability to drive the development of our attack in the manner and style already built by Richard Wigglesworth.
“Richard has done an excellent job over the past three years shaping our attack from where it was to where it is now. His selection to coach the British & Irish Lions this summer is testament to that. He and I had previously had a general discussion about whether he could switch his focus to the critical area of defence. After the summer tours, it made sense for him to move into that role – provided Lee could join full-time to run the attack.”
Veteran coaching advisor and assistant Andrew Stawbridge will leave England’s staff after the autumn. Tom Harrison remains as a specialist scrum coach, while Kevin Sinfield continues to also be part of the staff working on skills.
England take on Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in their four November games. A training squad will assemble for a three-day camp from Sunday, with Blackett in attendance before officially commencing his role at the end of September.
“ It’s a huge honour to join the England coaching team,” said Blackett. “The current England squad is full of talent and enthusiasm, with quality and depth from 1 to 15. I can’t wait to work with these players, and to see what we can achieve.
