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Eddie Jones forced to self-isolate for 10 days after England assistant coach tests positive

(Photo by Dave Rogers/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

England head coach Eddie Jones has been forced to self-isolate for ten days after his assistant coach Matt Proudfoot tested positive for Covid-19. The Rugby Football Union has announced that Jones is not displaying any symptoms and if he returns a negative at the next round of testing, he will join up with the squad at St George’s Park on January 28, a day after the squad assembles. 

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An RFU statement read: “England coach Matt Proudfoot has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating.  The test was carried out as part of England’s tournament testing regime for the upcoming Guinness Six Nations.  He is not displaying any symptoms.

“Head coach Eddie Jones and Simon Amor have been identified as contacts and will also isolate for a ten-day period, in accordance with government guidelines.

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“England players will meet at St George’s Park on Wednesday, January 27. Following further negative tests, Jones and Amor will join up with the group on Thursday, January 28, in line with government regulation.”

Jones is due to name his 28-man Six Nations squad this Friday. He is already short a coach for the championship as it was announced on Monday that it would be best for new full-time skills coach Jason Ryles not to fly in from Australia due to the ongoing pandemic restrictions. It leaves defence coach John Mitchell as the current last man standing for England. 

The English open their campaign a February 6 home match at Twickenham versus Scotland and Jones had been busy attending club games to monitor players. His last match was last Saturday’s Trailfinders Cup between where Billy Vunipola was in action for Saracens against Ealing in his first outing since England won the Autumn Nations Cup final against France in early December.

With England limited to a squad of 28 for the upcoming Six Nations, Jones is expected to largely stick by the same group of players throughout the championship to limit their movement in and out of camp.

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SK 12 minutes ago
Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

The way they are defending is sometime pathetic to be honest. Itoje is usually on the inside of the rush and he is paired with a slower tight forward. Unable to keep up with the rush we have seen the line become disconnected on the inside where the big boys are. How many times have we seen Earl rush past the first receiver almost into no mans land covering no attacker. It looks like a system without any guidance. Tome Wright, Ikitau and a number of Wallabies went back to this soft centre as did Williams, Jordan and several others. Also when the line is broken the multiple lines of defence seems to be missing. The rush is predicated on a cover and recovery system with multiple lines of defence but with England you dont see it any more. Fitness and conditioning seems to be off as well as players are struggling to keep up with the intensity of the rush. Felix Jones has left a huge hole. The whole situation was and is a mess. Why they insist on not letting him go and having him work remotely is beyond me. Its leading to massive negative press and is a hot button issue thats distracting from the squad. Also the communication around Jones and his role has been absolute rubbish and is totally disjointed. While some say he is working remotely and playing a role others are saying theres been no contact. His role has not been defined and so people keep asking and keep getting different answers. England need a clean break from him and need to start over. Whatever reason for his leaving its time to cut the rope before the saga drags the whole Borthwick regime down. As for Joe El Abd well good luck to him. He is being made to look like an amateur by the whole saga and he is being asked to coach a system thats not his and which has been perfected and honed since 2017 by Nienaber, Jones, Erasmus and Co and which was first started by White in 2004. He is literally trying to figure out a system pioneered by double world cup winning coaches at the highest level and coach it at the same time. Talk about being on a hiding to nothing.

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