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Jones loses another England staff member, this time to Scarlets
By Liam Heagney
Eddie Jones has lost head analyst Joe Lewis after he decided to re-join Welsh region Scarlets rather than stay on longer than a four-year stint with England. It was late July, amid reports that the England boss had been sounding out Richard Cockerill as a potential new coaching assistant, that speculation emerged that Lewis was leaving the Test team set-up he had joined in 2017.
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Jones has been revamping his backroom staff all year with forwards coach Matt Proudfoot the only 2020 assistant still on the books following the exits of Simor Amor, Jason Ryles, John Mitchell and now Lewis. He has recruited Martin Gleeson from Wasps and a deal is thought likely with Cockerill, but the Australian must now also bring in a new head analyst after Scarlets confirmed a deal for Lewis.
A club statement on Tuesday read: “Scarlets are delighted to announce the appointment of Joe Lewis as our new head of technical performance. Joe has had two previous spells with the Scarlets – with the academy and senior team where he spent four years as Head analyst.
“Originally from Builth Wells, Joe has been head analyst for the England national side since 2017, providing key analysis and insight for national coach Eddie Jones and his backroom team at the forefront of international rugby.
“He has worked in Australian Super Rugby, in New Zealand with Taranaki, and at the FA with the England women’s football team. Joe has also worked with Welsh Rugby Union as an analyst with the U18s, U20s and women’s teams.
TRANSFER:
The RFU's confirmation of a new England recruit by Eddie Jones has a knock-on effect regarding John Mitchell's switch to Wasps https://t.co/BSp7EqBFDW
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 6, 2021
“As head of technical performance, Joe will co-ordinate all on and off-field support to the coaching team, linking improved learning, challenging the coaching process and incorporating the latest analytical research to maximise the performance of the team.”
New Scarlets boss Dwayne Peel said: “Bringing Joey back from the RFU is obviously a big coup for us. He has been working with Eddie Jones for the last four years and brings a lot of experience from that role. His role has developed within that time from an analyst perspective to technical performance and that is going to be a big help for myself and the rest of the coaching group as we head into the season.”
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Lewis added: “It’s fantastic to be back at the Scarlets, a place I consider my spiritual home. I’m really thankful to the RFU and especially Eddie for giving me the opportunity to be part of his team and, more importantly, learn and improve my capabilities to work at the highest level.
“I’m also thankful for the opportunity of this exciting new role that Dwayne has empowered me to do and I relish the opportunity to apply those learnings to drive the Scarlets coaches and players to future success.”
— Scarlets Rugby (@scarlets_rugby) August 24, 2021
