COCKERILL ON ENGLAND RADAR
Is Edinburgh coach being lined up to take over from Eddie Jones?
RICHARD COCKERILL has emerged as a surprise candidate to replace Eddie Jones as England coach after the World Cup.
Interim RFU CEO Nigel Melville has compiled a longlist of candidates — with a preference for a ‘hands on’ English successor.
Leicester legend Cockerill, who has turned Edinburgh into a European force this season, was namechecked when Melville outlined details of his recruitment drive.
Warren Gatland and Stuart Lancaster are the highestprofile candidates, while Joe Worsley and Steve Borthwick also being monitored. But Cockerill ticks lots of boxes for Melville, whose preference is for an Englishman with lots of coaching experience.
The capital coach was previously in charge of Leicester Tigers and Toulon, and Melville said: ‘Cockerill has done an amazing job in Edinburgh. I questioned whether he would but actually he’s done a really good job. I have been watching them a lot.
‘I’m sure Steve Borthwick would be interested. He’s a good developing coach and he knows international rugby pretty well now. There are these young guys around that you sometimes don’t think about — Joe Worsley has done a great job in Bordeaux and it will be interesting to see how that develops.
‘We want a heavyweight international coach or a potential international heavyweight coach who is going to develop into an international coach. One who understands culture and the importance of culture. An out-and-out coach. Eddie is an out-and-out coach. So is Gatland.’
Melville added that Gareth Southgate’s World Cup success with the England football team has reinforced the importance of a home-grown coach.
‘Gareth has played on Englishness,’ said Melville. ‘Eddie accepts that and Englishness is important… essential.
‘Culturally, he has done a really good job with that team. He has engaged with that group of young players so the older players have fallen through.
‘It is probably a longer-term plan so they are all developing together.
‘You have to look at the next generation, it is not a one-year wonder.’
Cockerill may be contracted at Edinburgh until 2021, but the RFU could easily afford to buy him out if they wanted and it is unlikely the SRU would stand in his way if an approach was to be made.
The bonus-point win over Newcastle Falcons in the European Champions Cup has increased his standing even more, while another victory over the English club at Kingston Park next Sunday would put them in a terrific position to qualify for the knockout stages.
‘It was a good five points but we won’t get carried away as we have a tough away game against them coming up,’ said Cockerill.
‘From our point of view, to get five points against them was a brilliant result for us. It was probably not the best game to watch but we got full points so we’re not really worried about that. But we will have to be better next week to win.’
Cockerill singled out fullback Blair Kinghorn, who went over for the fourth try that secured the bonus point, for special mention. The Edinburgh head coach felt he was totally on his game and could do damage again against Newcastle next weekend.
Kinghorn said it was a straight-talking Cockerill at half-time that laid the foundations for Edinburgh’s comeback. Down 13-10 at the break, they rallied to win 31-13, with the full-back’s try coming eight minutes from time.
‘At half-time, Cockers said that the game was there for the taking,’ said Kinghorn. ‘He said it was in our hands, and it was all about whether we wanted to work hard for it. Straight after half-time we came out, got a turnover and scored early on, which set us up for the rest of the second half.
‘Bonus points are always vital in Europe, so getting five points at home and for them to not come away with anything is a brilliant result for us.
‘We’ve still got a lot to work on because it was a scrappy game, but we’re all looking forward to going down there and playing them on their home paddock.’