While leading man has a new deal, his assistants must wait
extension ahead of the 2015 World Cup (that contract was not due to expire until 2020), his coaching team of Andy Farrell, Graham Rowntree and Mike Catt were treated as part of the package.
And while the RFU has begun talks with Jones’s coaching team of Paul Gustard, Steve Borthwick and Neal Hatley, it is not yet certain whether they will also be offered extensions beyond the World Cup in Japan next year.
“It’s important to look at the whole coaching team,” said Steve Brown, the RFU chief executive. “We wanted to get Eddie sorted. I’ve spoken to two of the three, one later. Eddie has spoken to them, too. We very much want to support these guys, develop them but we need to make the evaluation over the next couple of months. We’re not going to let that be a distraction through the Six Nations. We’ll deal with it afterwards.”
If the RFU is looking for English candidates with Test experience, Gustard and Borthwick must come under consideration for the head-coach job to succeed Jones.
Jones, however, refuses to be drawn on whether either are ready to step up. “It’s not my decision, that’s an RFU decision,” he said. “Steve [Brown] and the panel will decide on that. I don’t think it’s for me to make judgment on whether
Tstaff are ready to step up or not. Steve [Borthwick’s] responsibility is to coach the forwards and make them the best forward pack by 2019 and he’s going to be busy doing that.” he make-up of the domestic season as part of the new global season from 2019 is thought to be close to being resolved.
The professional game board is due to hold a meeting next week at which concrete proposals will be
discussed. With the Six Nations now set to remain as a seven-week tournament, the key discussions will involve the start and finish of the domestic season.
The RFU has been compiling data about the workloads for international and non-international players and it is thought that the Premiership’s desire for extending the campaign to 10 months is unlikely to secure enough support to come to pass.