Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney will look to appoint an English coach to replace Eddie Jones after the 2023 World Cup.
While Sweeney and others have publicly supported Jones despite England’s poor Six Nations campaign, the RFU are reportedly looking to hire his successor next summer. Jones’ contract runs through to the upcoming World Cup in France.
The Australian’s position is under constant review, but the RFU could hire a coach to work under Jones at the World Cup before eventually taking over. The decision to move for an English coach essentially rules out a move for a big-name superstar coach such as Warren Gatland or Rassie Erasmus.
Sweeney also revealed that the governing body has set up a ‘war room’ to analyse which English coach, working domestically or abroad, would be most appropriate for the role. Andy Farrell and Shaun Edwards are both intriguing options but it will be difficult to appoint them as head coach prior to the World Cup when they will be working with Ireland and France respectively.
Erasmus has expressed interest in the role while Gatland is considered by many as the best available candidate. However, it appears the RFU’s criteria would best apply to a figure like Steve Borthwick, the head coach at Leicester who currently lead the Premiership.
Sweeney explained that the RFU intends to take a homegrown route, saying: “We believe we’ve got such a wealth of English coaches in the game. As a leading rugby nation we should be developing English coaches and an English style of play.
“That should be long-term and therefore the preference would be to have an English setup as far as I’m concerned. We’ve got a war room that’s got every English coach you can imagine – based here and based internationally. We’ve got an advanced succession plan in place.”
Sweeney will be responsible for the appointment, but the RFU’s performance director Conor O’Shea is working alongside Nigel Redman, who has experience in coaching succession within Olympic sports. O’Shea referenced when Fabien Galthié was named as Jacques Brunel’s successor in April 2019 and was on the France coaching staff before taking over after the World Cup in Japan.
Sweeney hopes that Jones’s successor will be a less controversial figure than the 62-year-old, although he refuted suggestions the Australian has lost the support of England fans. Sweeney also defended Jones’ decision to release a book in which he openly criticised players in his squad, including star Maro Itoje.
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“If you could create your nirvana, you’d have a coach who every single fan in the country absolutely loves,” Sweeney admitted. “He’d have heritage in 17 different counties so they’d love him in Yorkshire, they’d love him in Cornwall. That would be fantastic. You’re not always going to get that.
“Gareth Southgate has been fantastic for the FA with his rapport and the rebuilding of that organisation. I wouldn’t write off Eddie completely in terms of the fans. I know he’s controversial and he polarises massively but I don’t think every fan in the country hates him.
“I don’t think [his book] undermined his relationship with any of the current England players. I think he was saying he would think it would be inappropriate for me to comment on his selection or to critique him on how he picks his teams.”
Sweeney added: “Am I going to have a deep debate with Eddie about whether you should pick [Freddie] Steward or whether you should pick Marcus [Smith]? No, but I can challenge him on things, particularly when results go in the wrong direction.”
