COUGH UP, EDDIE
Jones must pay consultants out of own pocket
ENGLAND’S World Cup preparations are being undermined by the RFU’s state of financial turmoil, with Eddie Jones ordered to pay consultants himself — and forced to intervene to protect Richard Hill’s job.
Amid a savage round of enforced redundancies within the union, the fall- out is being felt at senior national-team level. Firm assurances that the cost- cutting measures would not have any direct impact on the England set-up appear to have been misleading.
Sportsmail understands that Jones must now dip into his own salary to pay for any consultants he chooses to bring into camp — as he has so often since taking charge in late 2015. There are indications that Jonny Wilkinson will continue to be paid using union funds, but others employed on an ad hoc basis must be funded by the head coach.
This could hamper his ability, or willingness, to employ specialists to address specific issues. England have turned to the likes of George Smith, Glen Ella, Andrew Johns, Dr Sherylle Calder, marc Dal maso and Graham Dawe during Jones’s tenure, but this type of input may be off-limits in the future.
In addition, it is understood that there were plans to remove 2003 World Cupwinner Hill from his post as England’s senior team manager. However, sources have indicated Jones put a stop to it.
Hill is not formally involved with coaching, but his role includes a mentoring element and the respected former flanker is appreciated by the players who he works with directly.
However, in the current climate of financial turmoil there can be no certainties the England staff will remain intact.
A year before the World Cup, it is a worrying predicament. The England hierarchy are aware that up until now the RFU’s financial clout has been a vital asset.
Without it, there will be doubts about England’s ability to compete with the All Blacks, along with Six Nations champions Ireland — who have the luxury of directly managing their players’ workload.
England. ‘Everyone was saying to me to get my hands ready. We thought the cricketing gods might give us “c Cook b Anderson” one last time. What a game of cricket, a great way to go. ‘I can’t describe what Jimmy must go through to do what he does. At tea he said, “I think I’m in for a long spell here”. He’s the best cricketer England have ever produced. It’s been a pleasure to stand at slip for him.’ The compliments flowed in the other direction too after an emotional week in which Cook marked his international retirement after 161 Tests with scores of 71 and 147. Asked on Sky whether he will miss having Cook around, Anderson only got through a few words about his ‘best mate’ before breaking down. But if Cook had hogged the applause for the first four days, it was Anderson who finished with the gratitude of the Oval crowd ringing in his ears. And captain Joe Root added his own note of thanks. ‘What Jimmy has achieved and what he’s capable of achieving still is astounding,’ said Root. ‘For him to be in the same league as McGrath and now chasing the big three spinners is phenomenal.’ McGrath, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, said: ‘If he can raise the bar to 600 wickets, that’s an incredible effort. I was proud to hold it for as long as I did — for it to be beaten by somebody like Jimmy Anderson is great. I have a lot of respect for Jimmy. He’s been an incredible bowler for a long time.’ India captain Virat Kohli said: ‘As a cricketer, you want to be pushed and tested and guys like Jimmy test you all the time. He’s relentless with his skills.’ As for Cook’s farewell, Root said: ‘I’d like to congratulate him on an amazing career and to turn out how it has is fairytale stuff. For Alastair to go out like that and Jimmy to finish the game off in style was so fitting for those two guys.’