ENGLAND TURNED DOWN AMAZON MILLIONS

THE RFU Board rejected a multi-million-pound offer from Amazon to make a fly-on-the-wall documentary at the World Cup due to fears it could be a distraction during England’s campaign. Eddie Jones is understood to have given his blessing to the proposal as it may have led to an increased budget for the tournament. But, in addition to the potential for disruption, Board members raised concerns about the involvement in the project of former England captain Will Carling, who is employed by the RFU as a leadership mentor for Jones’s side. Jones has not used Carling in Japan, but the 53-year-old has a consultancy agreement with the RFU

that involved him working two days a week for them last season and attending England’s pre-World Cup training camp in Treviso, speaking to the players and sharing his experiences of playing in two World Cups. In addition to his mentoring and motivational speaking, Carling has set up a television production company, which would have worked with Amazon on the England documentary. Amazon are understood to be keen to revisit the project at a later date, having made a series on Manchester City’s 2017-18 season. Their initial proposal was taken seriously enough by the RFU to be presented to the Board, who may have given the green light had it not involved granting access to camera crews during the World Cup. ‘The Board’s decision to reject this proposal was unanimous, as the project may have caused distractions during a World Cup campaign,’ an RFU insider told Sportsmail. ‘It was also felt that there could have been a conflict of interest for Will Carling to be involved in the production company when he also has a consultancy agreement with the RFU to act as a leadership mentor for the England team.’