Cockerill joins England set-up
FORMER Leicester Tigers player and head coach Richard Cockerill has been confirmed as part of England’s new-look coaching setup, writes Bobby Bridge.
The former hooker, right, joins as a forwards coach and will work alongside Matt Proudfoot.
Cockerill won 27 caps for England and made more than 250 appearances for Leicester Tigers.
He became Leicester head coach in 2009 and won the Premiership title on three occasions (2009, 2010 and 2013).
Cockerill has been rugby consultant at Toulon and spent four years at Edinburgh Rugby.
He said: “I am excited to be joining Eddie Jones and the England team.
“I look forward to being part of and contributing to the world-class environment that is England Rugby.”
The coaching team will first work with the England squad at a minicamp at The Lensbury this month.
England will then begin preparations for their three Test matches at Twickenham Stadium this autumn with a week’s training camp in Jersey.
They will be hosted by Jersey Reds and use the facilities at the Strive high performance centre, adjacent to the rugby club.
England head coach Jones said: “We’re two years from the World Cup so we wanted to freshen up our coaching team and get the right people in place for where we want to go – which is to win the World Cup.
“We’ve added Richard to the team to work with Matt to create a dominant forward pack.
“He’s a former England player, has great coaching experience and comes in as a well-rounded, mature, driven English coach.”