Exclusive - England release two age grade coaching stalwarts after a decade of work

RugbyPass sources have confirmed that England U18s long-serving coaching duo of John Fletcher and Peter Walton have been moved on and that the age-grade side is currently looking for replacements.

Fletcher, head coach, and Walton, assistant coach, have both been with the RFU and the England U18 side for the last 10 years and have had a hand in moulding current England stars such as Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell and Elliot Daly, among many more.

John Fletcher

The pair joined up with England in 2008, after both having had stints running the Newcastle Falcons academy, and during that time have outlasted three senior England coaches and a revolving door of U20 coaches, but they have been deemed surplus to requirements moving forward.

Head of international player development Dean Ryan, who has jurisdiction over English rugby’s age-grade pathway, made the decision to move on from the pair and is now believed to be searching for a new-look coaching team to carry on the successes that the pathway has enjoyed in recent years.

It will not be an entirely different coaching staff, however, with assistant coach Russell Earnshaw being retained by the RFU, although RugbyPass sources have hinted that it may be in a slightly different role to the one he currently occupies.

It is unknown what prompted Ryan to make the change, but the former Worcester director of rugby has been keen to put his own stamp on the position of head of international player development since his appointment in 2016, having also brought in Don Barrell as head of regional academies and Steve Bates as international performance coach, with Bates heading up the England U20 side as part of his responsibilities.

England have reaped the benefits of a productive U18 to U20 to senior pathway in recent years and there is no doubt the new coaches will have large shoes to fill when they are eventually hired.