Less than a month after reaching the World Cup final England are increasingly short of specialist coaches prepared to stick around and help guide the team forward. The decision of Scott Wisemantel to head back to his native Australia has now left them without an attack coach, and the forwards coach, Steve Borthwick, is to join Leicester as soon as the Rugby Football Union can find a replacement.
With the scrum coach Neal Hatley having already rejoined Bath, the popular Wisemantel’s departure is a further blow to the head coach, Eddie Jones, and his players as they look towards commencing their 2020 Six Nations campaign against France in Paris on 2 February. England’s attacking game has conspicuously improved during Wisemantel’s 18-month stint with the squad and the Wallabies are now set to enjoy the benefit of his cheerful presence.
The England scrum-half, Ben Youngs, is among those who believes Wisemantel’s input will be missed. “He’s been really important for us,” said Youngs, now among England’s most experienced figures. “He brings a huge amount of energy, he’s full of beans and a cheerful bloke. He’s a great guy to have around the environment. We’re grateful for what he did for us and how he helped the team.”
According to Youngs, Wisemantel was also instrumental in sharpening England’s cutting edge off first-phase ball, among the most improved areas of their game. “He certainly helped with our first set plays,” the Leicester player said. “He invested a lot of time into up-skilling boys. The attack is so important and he had a big impact on that, coming up with the plays and the plans with George Ford and Owen Farrell working alongside him. We’re certainly going to miss him for that, and as a guy and a personality to be around. He was a really upbeat character. You need that when you’re away for a long time.”
Given Wisemantel’s family are based in Australia it was always likely he would return home at some stage but the RFU had still been hopeful of persuading him to stay, if only temporarily. “Scott’s contract finished at the end of the Rugby World Cup and we had some discussions but he has decided to move on,” said Jones. “Whatever role he takes on next I know he will do an outstanding job because he was fantastic for us. We will miss him but we wish him and his family all the best.”
It leaves Jones looking to hire yet another backs coach to follow in the footsteps of the lengthening list of assistants and consultants who have come and gone. The former All Blacks coach John Mitchell, latterly in charge of defence, is staying put but Borthwick, cited by many of his players as the best strategic lineout coach around, is understood to have agreed to join Leicester.
If Jones can find a suitable replacement before mid-January, when the squad will be gearing up to head to Portugal for a pre-Six Nations camp, it is conceivable Borthwick will also be moving on sooner than expected. As things stand, however, it is believed the former England and Saracens captain is unlikely to start work officially with the Tigers until England have completed their Six Nations programme.
Leicester’s head coach, Geordan Murphy, would not be drawn on the subject but did concede the Tigers were looking to recruit another senior coach. “At Leicester we’re in discussions with some coaches and looking to add to our team. There’s no timescale. We will always look for the right people and sometimes you have to wait for the time to be right. It’s not a case of being reactive and jumping in and just snapping up what’s available. We want the very, very best. Mark Bakewell is coaching the forwards at the moment and doing a really good job.”