FARRELL SNUBBED OFFER OF ENGLAND RETURN

ENGLAND tried to bring back Andy Farrell as defence coach but the former dual-code international rejected their approach, Sportsmail can reveal. The RFU will soon announce that former All Blacks head coach John Mitchell will replace Paul Gustard in Eddie Jones’s set-up but Farrell, father of England and Lions fly-half Owen, was the first choice after Gustard left for Harlequins. An approach was made but Farrell (right), who is now a senior part of Ireland’s back-room team, turned down the chance to rejoin England two and a half years after they sacked him. The 43-year-old was defence guru in Stuart Lancaster’s regime and was not removed following the review into the disastrous 2015 World Cup campaign. But when Jones was appointed to succeed Lancaster, the Australian decided to dispense with his services, emphasising the need for a fresh start. It did not take long for Ireland to seize the chance to recruit a supreme motivator who had had a major hand in the Lions’ series victory over the Wallabies in Australia in the summer of 2013. Three weeks after leaving the RFU, Farrell was being unveiled by their rivals in Dublin, to great fanfare. He has gone on to become an influential and muchadmired figure within Joe Schmidt’s Ireland management team, helping to oversee last season’s Grand Slam. That came months after the Lions staged an epic rearguard actions to repel the All Blacks and earn a historic series draw in New Zealand. In May, he signed a contract extension with the IRFU until June 2020. He is already being linked with the top job in Ireland if Schmidt returns to New Zealand after next year’s World Cup and he may also have designs on the No 1 role with England. Jones was understood to have reservations about the prospect of a father-son dynamic within the England camp but Andy and Owen Farrell have always demonstrated complete professionalism in their coach-player relationship. Meanwhile, there is likely to be a back-room staff position for Jones to fill as a matter of urgency. England’s head of strength and conditioning, Dean Benton, has indicated that he is leaving just a year out from the World Cup.