England boss Eddie Jones is letting each of his assistants be head coach for a day in the build-up to the Six Nations, in case he is struck down by Covid-19 during the tournament and is unable to attend a match.
Jones has taken the decision to allow an assistant to be in charge for a day after watching how Premier League teams have been impacted by the virus.
The likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City have all had to cope without their managers being able to attend matches, and Jones is wary about it happening to England.
As a result, scrum coach Matt Proudfoot, forwards coach Richard Cockerill, attack coach Martin Gleeson and defence coach Anthony Seibold, will all get the chance to rule the roost for a day in the build-up to England’s opener against Scotland at Murrayfield on February 5.
“I don’t think you are ever well versed, because it keeps on doing different things, this disease,” said Jones.
“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.
“We are doing that with all our staff. 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.”
