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Richard Cockerill England role 'imminent' - reports
By Ian Cameron
Former Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill is set to be unveiled as the latest addition to Eddie Jones’ new-look coaching set-up – according to reports.
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Chris Foy writes in the Daily Mail that Cockerill’s new role is set to be confirmed by England ‘imminently’ and that the former international hooker is to taking over the lineout and contact coaching.
Cockerill left Edinburgh by mutual agreement in July to be allowed to ‘pursue other opportunities’. He was subsequently heavily linked with England and was reported to have met Jones in a Leicestershire cafe later that month.
Cockerill’s arrival will be the latest addition in Eddie Jones’ major overhaul of the senior coaching staff. In recent weeks John Mitchell left for Wasps, becoming the latest member of staff to call it quits from Jones’ regime, which has seen a significant turnover since the Australian took over the reins in 2016.
RugbyPass revealed that Mitchell, who joined England in 2018, gave six months notice having grown disillusioned with his role under Jones. The 2019 World Cup finalists finished fifth in the most recent Six Nations championship and the regime took heavy criticism as a result.
Mitchell was the latest in an increasingly long line of coaches to leave. Steve Borthwick left for Leicester Tigers, Neal Hatley joined Bath and Scott Wisemantel left the attack coach role to take up the same position with Australia. In May, England attack coach Simon Amor stepped down after just 16 months in the role while skills coach Jason Ryles also left the set-up. Ryles was due to arrive for the 2021 Six Nations but did not travel from Australia because of C-19 concerns.
For England’s summer fixtures against the United States and Canada, Jones only had two senior assistant coaches Mitchell and forwards coach Proudfoot.
Cockerill’s arrival at Edinburgh in 2017 saw a resurgence within the club making its very first post-season appearance in the Guinness PRO14 knock-out stages. He brought a hard edge to the Capital side, even if his no-nonsense approach didn’t enamor him to all the clubs’ players.
