Eddie Jones has revealed that the list of candidates to be his new defence coach is exclusively English as he closes in on Paul Gustard’s successor. The Australian also confirmed it would be a like-for-like replacement rather than a quick fix and dismissed suggestions Gustard’s position on the South Africa tour next month would be undermined by his departure immediately after the three-Test series.
Jones has started interviewing potential replacements and all are English. That would appear to rule out two Australians – Brad Davis, currently employed by the Ospreys, and the Scotland defence coach Matt Taylor – while strengthening the chances of Shaun Edwards, Alex Sanderson and Shaun Wane.
Chris Ashton back at Twickenham with point to prove to Eddie Jones
Edwards, who holds the position with Wales, is preparing for their summer tour while this week the Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, said he would reluctantly let Sanderson leave. Wane, meanwhile, will leave Wigan Warriors at the end of the season – the Super League grand final is in October – and has been linked with a switch of codes. Jones watched Wigan’s victory over Castleford last month and yesterday said Gustard’s replacement did not need to be in place before November. Asked if he felt an obligation to appoint an English coach, Jones said: “I am just thinking of the candidates we are interviewing at the moment, they are all English.”
Gustard said this week he was going to South Africa out of a sense of obligation after accepting the Harlequins job. “[Gustard] is a committed professional, he is a good guy and I have no doubt he will give 100% for us,” added Jones.
One of Gustard’s final assignments – and his last Twickenham appearance under Jones – will be to nullify the threat posed by the Barbarians, not least Chris Ashton, who has been named at fullback following a stunning first season with Toulon in which he scored a record-breaking 26 tries.
Ashton is currently unavailable for England as he is based overseas and he has never been capped by Jones – thanks in no small part to two controversial lengthy suspensions. He revealed earlier this week, however, that he is desperate to play for his country again and while he has two more years at Toulon, said, “I still have an open mind”, when asked if he would consider a return to the Premiership.
Jones said: “If he comes back and plays, and plays well, then he’s obviously in contention. He’s been playing well. He’s playing in a different position and he’s done some good things in that position. But he’s not a guy in my selection zone at the moment because he’s not eligible.”
Opposite Ashton will be Elliot Daly, who gets a rare outing at full-back with Mike Brown switching to the left wing and Danny Cipriani making do with a place on the bench. George Ford and Chris Robshaw are named as co-captains – having also shared the role against the Barbarians last year and Samoa in the autumn. Tom Curry is at openside flanker while there are four uncapped players in the side – the hooker Jack Singleton, the lock Elliott Stooke, the No 8 Zach Mercer and the outside-centre Henry Trinder.
Beno Obano may have been a fifth but he was ruled out after a knee injury suffered last week as England’s Brighton curse struck again. Bath confirmed Obano would be out of action for up to a year, having joined Sam Jones, who sustained his career-ending leg injuries during a judo session, Anthony Watson, Jack Nowell and Denny Solomona as injury victims on the south coast.