In an effort to preempt any Covid-related disruptions during this year's Six Nations, England boss Eddie Jones is trialling each of his coaches in the head role building up to the tournament.
England will raise the curtain on their Six Nations campaign with a trip to Murrayfield, where they'll face Scotland in a Calcutta Cup encounter on February 5.
The visitors have already suffered one virus-related setback after Harlequins prop Joe Marler tested positive for Covid.
One could argue a positive case among the coaching staff could, in many cases, be even more damaging given players generally tend to have a direct replacement available.
It's become relatively common over the past two years for assistants in the Premier League and Europe's other major divisions to fill in for their superiors when sidelined due to Covid.
Never one to be caught behind, Jones will give his core team—including forwards coach Richard Cockerill, attack coach Martin Gleeson, scrum coach Matt Proudfoot and defence coach Anthony Seibold—a taste in the hot seat.
“I don’t think you are ever well versed, because it keeps on doing different things, this disease,” he told reporters.
“We might, in the middle of the tournament, have another variant and have to cope with something different.
“So all we can do is follow the regulations, be sensible the way we act and then adapt when we do have problems. I think a lot of it is just getting on with the job, having a clear plan in place, if so-and-so is out then that player comes in.
“With the coaches, for instance, we are getting each of the assistant coaches to be head coach for one day. So that in the event I got Covid and I can’t go to the match, as we have seen with a number of Premier League clubs, we have got a guy who has done the job, ready and can step into that on that day."
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The approach serves as a summons for all among Jones' squad to adapt and be versatile, much like the coach's preference for selecting players who can fill more than one position.
Over time, Jones has come to place a much greater importance on players being adept at more than one role in the team, a policy that now extends to those among the backroom members.
“We are doing that with all our staff," he continued. "We are trying to pick multi-positional players, so if we do have a Covid incident overnight we can find a player that can fill that role pretty quickly.”
It's not the first time Jones has looked to the Premier League for inspiration in how he operates, having picked the brains of greats like Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger in the past.
The Australian also lauded the talents of Liverpool legend and Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard, whom he described as "very impressive for a young coach" after a recent meeting.
Of those among his staff, former Leicester Tigers coach Cockerill may be the most natural pick to lead England in Jones' absence, having even been touted as a potential successor when the latter steps down.
Jones will hope he is in attendance and leading England for each of their five fixtures throughout the Six Nations, hoping to improve on last year's woeful fifth-place finish with a new-look squad and coaching team.
