Carling handed new role by Jones

WILL Carling has been handed a shock new role in Eddie Jones’s England set-up.

The former captain has been taken on as a “leadership mentor” to Jones’s players, ahead of next year’s World Cup in Japan, and will aim to play a key role in building a leadership core that the Australian believes has been lacking in recent performances.

England have notched up just one win in their last eight internationals, and Jones is believed to be keen on enhancing the leadership skills of his more experienced players such as Dylan Hartley and Owen Farrell in a bid to pull guide England in the right direction on and off the field.

“I have met Will continuously over the last two years and I think he can add value to the senior players in the squad with his experience,” Jones said in Vilamoura on Monday, where the England squad are currently in the middle of a week-long training camp ahead of Saturday’s clash with South Africa.

“He joins the great past of England to the present. It is a similar thing to what the All Blacks have done with great players and I think Will can play a role for us.”

He added: “He’s a bit of specialist in leadership. He understands English rugby. He understands what made English rugby great so combining the skill of leadership with the knowledge of English history is a nice resource for us to have.

“I considered a number of people. Met a number of people. I felt that Will is the best equipped to handle it.

“This is not a coaching job. In a lot of ways, it has got to do specifically with English rugby. I want the past to be linked to the present and also then to give the players some additional help with leadership.”

However, there are concerns that his introduction into the set-up could cause disharmony in the ranks.

Carling’s criticism of the disastrous World Cup 2015 side shortly after the 28-25 defeat to Wales sparked a stinging response from scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth, who happens to be in this current squad.

Wigglesworth said at the time: “Let’s have a meaningful discussion about his knowledge, about what he knows about the game. He is there to further his own career and good luck to him.

“Certain people who have come out and said things should know better. It seems that no one has ever made a mistake in life and no one has made a decision that hasn’t worked out for them.”