Bracken: Gatland right for England

WARREN Gatland would be the best man to succeed Eddie Jones if the RFU decide not to extend the Aussie’s contract up to the World Cup in France.

That’s the view of England’s World Cup-winning scrum-half Kyran Bracken, who believes there are English club coaches good enough to take over the reins of the national side, but insists Gatland would be the “safest hands” heading towards 2023.

Bracken recently called for Twickenham bosses to make a change having grown frustrated by Jones’ failure to live up to his post-Japan vow to freshen up the team by bringing in new faces.

Jones, who also claimed he would make England “the greatest team ever”, has silenced some of his critics with victories over Scotland and Ireland, revitalising their title chances following the loss to France.

But Bracken still believes it would be best for the side to have a new man brought in when Jones’ current deal ends in August 2021 and insists the timing would be ideal to move for Gatland who would have finished his third spell as Lions boss in South Africa by then.

“I’d love Warren Gatland to come back and coach England,” Bracken told The

Rugby Paper. “That would be amazing. He may well want something to do after he finishes with the Lions in South Africa so the timing would be perfect. He’s been linked with the job before so why not again?

“There are very good English coaches capable of doing it but if someone asked me if I wanted either Rob Baxter or Warren Gatland to lead the side I’d probably lean towards Gatland (below).

“Warren has so much experience, know-how and his record is outstanding. Just look what he did with Wales and how he’s perfomed with the Lions over the years. He would be a very safe appointment.

“Eddie Jones isn’t picking a team for the World Cup, he’s picking one for the short term and to win the Six Nations. All the other teams are bringing new guys in and playing young players and those on form. Would England have won the World Cup final if Danny Cipriani was on the bench and able to come on and change the way things were going. Would England have beaten France had Alex Dombrandt been picked at No.8? We will never know but it’s about getting the right team.

“It’s gone a bit stale and we need a change, a new era and let’s try and win the next World Cup. We are capable of winning a World Cup. Getting to a final should not be a surprise. It should be expected.”