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England Rugby have confirmed the addition of Richard Cockerill and Anthony Seibold as part of a ‘finalised’ senior men’s coaching set-up.
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The dramatic capture of Cockerill from Edinburgh was unofficially a done deal for well over a month. Seibold replaces John Mitchell as defence coach.
The 50-year-old joins as a forwards coach and will work alongside Matt Proudfoot. An England statement described him as having “a distinguished playing career, winning 27 caps for England and making more than 250 appearances for Leicester Tigers, along with spells with Coventry and Montferrand.”
Cockerill became Leicester head coach in 2009 and won the Premiership title on three occasions – 2009, 2010 and 2013. Cockerill had a brief stint as a rugby consultant at Toulon before spending four years at Edinburgh Rugby, where he was credited with turning around their PRO14 fortunes and transforming them into a more competitive outfit.
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.
“Anthony is a coach that I have had a relationship with since 2019 and have followed his career closely. He is a good coach and thinks deeply about the game. John Mitchell did a great job improving us in defence and Anthony will add further nuances to the good system that he has put into place.
“It’s an exciting time for rugby with the new season starting, supporters back in the stadium and the return of the grassroots game this weekend – with the rugby community celebrating being back together at Pitch Up for Rugby events around the country. We’re looking forward to getting the squad back together and growing this England team.”
Cockerill said: “I am excited to be joining Eddie Jones and the England team, working with the players and staff.
“I look forward to being part of and contributing to the world class environment that is England Rugby.”
Meanwhile Rugby League convert Seibold has been appointed as England defence coach. He arrives from his most recent role as head coach of the Brisbane Broncos in Australia’s National Rugby League. He was previously head coach at South Sydney Rabbitohs, where he was named the NRL Daily M coach of the year in 2018 and has coached at a number of clubs including Manly Sea Eagles, Melbourne Storm and Queensland in the State of Origin series.
Seibold’s playing career, included spells in England with Hull KR and London Broncos, along with Canberra Raiders and Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. He is currently a coaching mentor at Newcastle Knights.
BORING: Jake Connor has served back at Eddie Jones. https://t.co/k42E7i513o
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 3, 2021
Seibold said: “I am very much looking forward to joining the England coaching staff and building upon the work that has been done by the coaching staff and players over recent seasons. Eddie is one of the leading coaches in world sport and the opportunity to work under him through to the 2023 World Cup in France along with the other staff was an opportunity that I could not pass up.
“The depth of talent and the opportunity to work with the elite players in the English game is something that really excites me going forward. I am looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge that international rugby presents.”
The coaching team will first work with the England squad at a mini-camp at The Lensbury next month. England will then begin preparations for their three Test matches at Twickenham Stadium this autumn with a week’s training camp in Jersey in late Ocotober. They will be hosted by Jersey Reds and use the facilities at the Strive high performance centre.
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