Eddie Jones named England coach: Australian set to use English coaching team

Jones could use his past links with Saracens to recruit the likes of Steve Borthwick and Paul Gustard while Shaun Edwards is out on fontract with Wales

New England head coach Eddie Jones (Getty Images)

The new England head coach has the freedom to appoint the back-room staff of his choosing, meaning the current assistants Graham Rowntree, who has been in charge of the forwards, Andy Farrell (backs) and Mike Catt (attacking skills) could be departing after Eddie Jones got the RFU's top job.

Given Jones’ peripatetic coaching career of more than 20 years, he could hire a cohort of right-hand men simply from those he has worked with directly, never mind the likes of Shaun Edwards, whose CV also merits attention.

To judge from his own words, Jones would certainly draw on English talent. During his second spell coaching in England at Saracens in 2008-09 (he was a consultant there for a few months in 2006) the Australian signed Steve Borthwick from Bath to be the London club’s captain and second-row brainbox.

The pair teamed up again with Japan for more than a year up to and including the World Cup, when the line-out was Borthwick’s speciality. “Steve’s definitely a guy who should be in the mix, straight away,” Jones said of Borthwick and England last month.

“He’s shown his quality with Japan and the other real benefit is you know you’re getting someone who loves the [red] rose. He captained England 21 times, and you want some coaches who have that real innate sense of what it’s like to play for England.”

Borthwick only finished playing in May 2014, and he joined Bristol straight after the World Cup, so a jump to England might be regarded as too rapid.

Looking at Englishmen a little further up the experience scale, Jones oversaw the transition of Paul Gustard (defence) and Alex Sanderson (forwards) from playing to coaching at Saracens in 2008, having nurtured Sanderson in Queensland the previous year.

Gustard and Sanderson have since contributed to Saracens’ two Premiership titles and a European Cup final appearance. Alex King, the former Wasps and England fly-half, has coached the backs at Clermont Auvergne and currently Northampton, and his club colleague Dorian West played for England and has honed a hard-nosed Saints pack. Could there be scope for a club-country job share? Exeter’s Rob Baxter was seconded to England for the 2013 tour of South America.

Farrell was a player under Jones at Saracens, and it is thought they got on well, but would the Wigan rugby league legend be too closely identified with England’s disappointing World Cup? Edwards, another former rugby league maestro, has built a fine reputation as a defence coach in union.

Mike Ford was head coach at Saracens when Jones arrived for his first spell. Ford is now in charge at Bath, having run the defence with Ireland and England.

Much will depend on the roles the new man believes he needs to fill.

The word “consultant” covers many possible contributions. Sir Clive Woodward is a long-time mucker of Jones’, and some unions favour a head of performance, so if England follow suit with someone to oversee the senior team, the Saxons, Under-20s, sports science and so on, maybe Woodward, Jake White or Pat Howard would fit.