Shaun Edwards was on hand to counsel new England defence coach Kevin Sinfield's transition from rugby league to union, the former Wales coach has revealed.
Sinfield, 42, has joined the RFU coaching staff as defence coach alongside Eddie Jones' head coach successor Steve Borthwick, both leaving their posts at Leicester Tigers to lead the men's national team into a World Cup year.
Former Wales defence guru Edwards, who himself spent a spell in rugby league as a player, has revealed he helped play a part in Sinfield's journey across codes when he was first considering the switch.
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In his Daily Mail column, Edwards wrote: "Kevin Sinfield phoned me up for some advice before he switched over to rugby union two years ago and I always knew he would be a success. We had three or four conversations and he told me about his opportunity to work with Steve Borthwick at Leicester Tigers.
"What you work on in rugby league are your individual skills; how to throw a dummy, how to hand off, how to beat someone one on one. In union you have to become familiar with things like the scrum and lineout.
"Borthwick is an extremely good technical coach and there are few better people to learn the intricacies of the game from than him. I told Kevin it was the perfect opportunity to enter the game and now they have both developed into England coaches."
Sinfield, who was a player, captain and director of rugby for Leeds Rhinos where he led the team to seven Super League championships and two Challenge Cup successes, played 26 rugby league Tests for England, who he also captained, and 14 Tests for Great Britain. He joined Borthwick's coaching roster ahead of the 2021/22 season, during which the Tigers won a record 11th Premiership title.
He has also been in the spotlight of late for raising more than £7million for charity and championing research in support of ex-Leeds teammate Rob Burrow, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND). Sinfield's fundraising has included running seven ultra marathons in seven days this year.
Edwards added that he believes England's players will take inspiration from their new defence boss, saying: "No one he has coached has ever had a bad word to say about him. Just look at the incredible fundraising he is doing for his old team-mate, Rob Burrow, who is suffering horribly with motor neurone disease. He deserves a knighthood for that. That’s the definition of leading by example for me. Players will see that, respect that and want to play for him."
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