LONG READ 'RFU would live to regret moral guardian angel Sinfield's departure'

Steve Borthwick has spelled out his desire to keep Kevin Sinfield in the England coaching set-up so it is surprising the RFU have not tied him down as yet. It cannot surely be the Twickenham overseers do not recognise his value. If that is the case then they really haven’t been paying attention.

Reading between the lines of Borthwick’s post-New Zealand update on Sinfield’s future it seems as if the RFU are dragging their feet on a new contract for him but it is perplexing as to why. What organisation in their right minds would not want someone like that on board?

Sometimes a special individual comes along who, whatever role they are in, just needs to be inside the building. Given he was replaced as defence specialist by Felix Jones, could it be the RFU hierarchy don’t actually rate him that highly as a coach?

The job he moved to – skills, kicking and mentoring coach – is maybe a little too woolly and wide-ranging for their liking. Does it mean he is just the cones guy?

Perhaps the RFU are suspicious of Sinfield’s U-turn having initially handed his notice in after the World Cup? A question of loyalty and all that.

Note to Bill Sweeney. If there is one man whose commitment does not need to be questioned it is someone who runs seven ultra-marathons in seven days.

Maybe the part-time nature of the role he has requested going forward has compounded that. How committed will he be?

Note to Bill Sweeney. If there is one man whose commitment does not need to be questioned it is someone who runs seven ultra-marathons in seven days. If the RFU chief executive allows Sinfield to slip through England’s fingers it will be a crass misjudgement.

Everyone in the country by now surely realises what an inspirational figure Sinfield is. His devotion to his great mate Rob Burrow and the lengths he pushed himself to in order to raise money to lead the fight against motor neurone disease has shown his remarkable personal qualities. The gleam from the Sinfield halo is blinding.

If that was the sum total of his worth then it would still make for a pretty good case for employing him. But there’s a whole lot more.

The players love him. He has their respect and their trust. He is a great sounding board for them, someone they can talk to openly and honestly in a way they could not to their head coach.

To have someone like that on hand is gold dust. By its nature an elite squad is inherently unstable. Injuries and form, the whims of selection make it so. Because of that top-level players, for all their outward bravado, are surprisingly vulnerable.

So an empathetic figure they can unload upon – particularly one who knows the pressures of playing international sport themselves – is a great source of reassurance.

By his nature, Sinfield takes particular care of those who miss out on selection.

“He’s almost become the head coach of the non-23 guys who are running against us,” explained England captain Jamie George.

“I’ve never really seen a role like that before but he’s really taken that on and takes pride in working with those guys.

“It can be very difficult when you’re not selected when you hope to be selected. They have a conversation with Steve but Kev is the person who puts the arm around the shoulder.

“The amount of times I’ve seen him having a coffee with a lot of the non-23 guys – his caffeine intake is significant!”

He is such an incredible coach. What a wealth of knowledge he has on both sides of the ball. He probably reminds me of Andy Farrell in that respect.

Sinfield already works in a mentoring role across other sports. It is an area he finds rewarding and stimulating and is keen to develop. Hence the part-time nature of the future RFU role. He would, though, be with England whenever they are in camp.

It is an arrangement they would be wise to jump at as Sinfield is unlikely to be short of alternative offers. He was linked with a switch back to rugby league to become the Leeds Rhinos sporting director earlier this summer. It was a role some thought had been created with him specifically in mind. As it turned out, it went to Ian Blease but having been a director of rugby at Headingley and the RFL’s rugby director, a strategic role is one possible avenue for him.

If he was after a hands-on union job, he has a Premiership title on his CV at Leicester and a Rugby World Cup bronze medal as a defence coach. There were issues early on in his time in the international job but in the end he delivered a defence watertight enough for England to leak just nine tries in seven games at France 2023.

The switch to skills, as England have transformed their outlook since, has been “seamless” according to George.

“In terms of the role he’s playing in this team, it’s been amazing to see and I think that’s a huge part of us being able to kick on,” said the hooker.

“He is such an incredible coach. What a wealth of knowledge he has on both sides of the ball. He probably reminds me of Andy Farrell in that respect.”

If the RFU are dithering, the mention of Farrell’s name should be the final prod. For England, he was one who got away. There had to be a reckoning after the humiliation of England’s home World Cup campaign in 2015 but the wisdom of Eddie Jones sacking him has been shown up by what Farrell has subsequently achieved with Ireland. Next summer he will coach the Lions in Australia.

Sinfield isn’t an exact Farrell clone. His personality is more low-key. But as the squad’s moral guardian angel he is a priceless asset. Item one on the Twickenham post-tour agenda needs to be sorting his future.

If the RFU don’t, they will live to regret it.