England's backs coach options

With England now just over four months into Eddie Jones’ tenure, it’s fair to say that the initial impact of his appointment has been a very successful one.

Jones quickly pieced together his coaching team, made some hard calls in regards to playing personnel and then led England to their first Six Nations Grand Slam in 13 years.

One thing that has eluded the Australian, however, is a new backs/attack coach.

Northampton’s Alex King was the name on everyone’s lips to join Steve Borthwick (forwards) and Paul Gustard (defence) in Jones’ backroom staff, but that move seemed to fizzle out as quickly as Northampton’s attacking play did in the first half of the Aviva Premiership season.

Jones took charge of England’s attack during the Six Nations, where he did a very solid job, but it seems as though finding a permanent coach to fill the position is still high on his wish list. The summer tour to Australia is now looming on England’s horizon and they are running out of time to appoint a new assistant if they want him to be involved on their trip Down Under.

So, who are the potential candidates to fill the void?

Will Greenwood had been linked with the position following his appointment to the Barbarians this autumn and the news that he had been asked by Jones to work with some of the younger players ahead of England’s crunch matches against Wales and France, but Greenwood himself has been quick to play down those rumours.

The Rugby World Cup-winner has admitted that coaching is something he would like to get into and actively plans to earn his coaching badges, but that he has no illusions of being fast-tracked into such a top level position.

You wouldn’t rule it out, but it does seem unlikely at this point.

Greenwood’s former teammate Jonny Wilkinson is another name that has been mentioned. Jones asked the English rugby icon to work with fly-halves Owen Farrell and George Ford prior to the Six Nations and has made no secret that he would like to create a role for Wilkinson in his coaching set-up moving forward.

Whether that would be as specialist kicking coach or a broader role working with all the backs remains to be seen, as does whether or not Wilkinson would accept the role, as the former fly-half is still relatively new to coaching and seems eager to work his way up the ladder.

Both Greenwood and Wilkinson come from an England era that was by and far the most successful in the nation’s history and played a style of rugby that Jones is eager to re-implement. Stylistically, it seems as though they would both very much suit the direction England are moving in.

Another coach who falls into that same style category is Exeter Chiefs’ Ali Hepher. The former Northampton fly-half has helped mould Exeter’s back line attack around a strong tactical kicking game and a dominant lineout and driving maul foundation. This is exactly what Jones is looking to develop with England and as fits go, Hepher may be the most seamless addition, particularly if there is strong mutual interest and the RFU and Exeter are able to find amicable terms.

Northampton’s stuttering start to the season and their reluctance to let Alex King leave seemed to halt any ambitions Jones may or may not have had on luring King into his set-up, but with the club’s attacking fortunes swelling and the English domestic season drawing closer to its end, interest may be reignited. Like Hepher, King builds his back lines around a dominant set-piece and on paper matches up very well with what England are trying to create.

Some dark horses include Saracens’ Kevin Sorrell, Wasps’ Lee Blackett and Gloucester’s Nick Walshe. Though Sorrell’s work turning Saracens into one of the more ambitious sides in the Premiership has gone under the radar, the ruthlessness and efficiency of their back line is evident to all who watch them. Blackett has been a driving force behind the attacking frisson that Wasps have been causing this season, whilst Walshe is a coach whose fingerprints are all over the raft of talented emerging players that England have at their disposal.

Finding a proficient attack/backs coach remains the only thing unchecked on Jones’ presumed list of priorities upon taking the England job and don’t be surprised if he pursues that over the coming months with the same energy and one-mindedness that has characterised his reign so far.