Friday 3 April 2020 16:45, UK
Former England international Jamie Noon has called the RFU's decision to hand head coach Eddie Jones a contract extension through to the 2023 Rugby World Cup the right one.
Jones, 60, was contracted until July 2021, but had been in discussions over his future since losing the World Cup final to South Africa in 2019.
He is the highest-paid coach in international rugby, with a salary of around £750,000, and his new deal was confirmed on Thursday.
Noon, who picked up 38 Test caps for England between 2001 and 2009, spoke to Sky Sports exclusively on Friday from his home in Malemort, France.
"I think he's done a really good job," Noon said. "Obviously the World Cup went really well and in the Six Nations, they [England] didn't start as well but then they've come through and looked handy towards the end.
"Why not [extend Jones' contract]? An element of stability in there is probably a good thing.
"He's more than capable of doing the job, he seems to have got a lot of respect from the players and he's also come out and said he's got a lot more to add to the players.
"The fact that he can help them and help them to improve both from a collective and individual perspective is a good thing, so why not?"
After reaching the World Cup final in 2019 in Japan, much of Jones' focus will now turn to the 2023 tournament in France.
Noon was positive about the health of English rugby, but stressed the challenge going forward is to bring young players into the set-up for 2023, much like France have done.
"I think, not just in the England squad but on the periphery too, there is some serious talent out there," Noon added.
"There's some real quality players coming through, some good young guys coming through so it's how you incorporate it.
"It's a bit of a catch 22. They don't have the experience but you need to give them the experience, so it's a matter of wait and see I think.
"If he can blood in some of those guys with the experience around, then that's going to definitely be a good thing longer-term.
"And that will be his [Jones] objective over these next couple of years - to make sure he has the next group of quality players coming through.
"That's what France have done. They've gone for youth, but some of them are very experienced.
"They are a bit like Owen Farrell and George Ford of old because those guys had a huge amount of club experience at a really young age, and they still have, even at international level they're very young but have a huge amount of experience.
"The key balance now is to try and get the next generation to benefit from that experience as well."
