Ed Robinson is returning to Eddie Jones' staff after serving as skills coach during the recent Six Nations; Alex Codling will focus on the lineout and joins national set-up after spells with England U20s, Harlequins and Ealing
Monday 7 June 2021 13:11, UK
England have added Ed Robinson and Alex Codling to their coaching team for their summer series against the USA and Canada.
Robinson, an assistant at Championship side Jersey Reds, will return to Eddie Jones' staff after serving as skills coach during the recent Six Nations.
He will help Jones run the attack following the recent departure of Simon Amor.
Codling, who won his solitary Test cap in 2002, will focus on the lineout and joins the national set-up after spells with England U20s, Harlequins and Ealing.
The duo will bolster a coaching team that lost Amor and Jason Ryles in the wake of a dismal fifth-place finish in this year's Guinness Six Nations, joining John Mitchell and Matt Proudfoot in providing assistance to Jones.
"We're very pleased to have Alex and Ed join us this summer. They will provide hands-on skills coaching in attack and line-out fundamentals to a young and developing squad," Jones said.
England open their summer series with an 'A' fixture against their Scottish counterparts on June 27 followed by Tests against the USA and Canada.
Jones will rest those established internationals not involved in the British and Irish Lions tour in order to look at younger players such as Harlequins duo Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt.
England head coach Jones has defended his April trip to Japanese side Suntory Sungoliath and insisted coaches need to practice coaching during the off-season.
The 61-year-old used some of his annual leave following a disappointing 2021 Guinness Six Nations to visit Tokyo and continue a long association with the Top League outfit.
Jones has held a consultancy role with Suntory for more than two decades and spent time with Beauden Barrett when he travelled there, with the New Zealand star thanking the Australian for his "little pieces of gold" and revealing he had been "more in the background and dealing with coaches."
It still sparked criticism following a fifth-place showing at the 2021 Six Nations a month earlier, with former England head coach Clive Woodward particularly scathing, though the RFU did sanction the work.
"For 25 years, I have always practised coaching and I had to use my holidays to practise coaching because I love it," Jones said, speaking to media for the first time since the RFU's formal review post-Six Nations.
"I get the opportunity to do a little bit of coaching at Suntory and I get the opportunity to work with some of the best players in the world.
"Bob Dwyer, who was the coach who had the foremost influence on my coaching, always said the best players are the best coaches, so find the best players, pick their brains and learn from them.
"That is the best way to improve your coaching and that is something I have done continually for 25 years.
"I go round clubs to try and pick people's brains and obviously you share some information. That is the obvious thing - it is information-sharing but very useful."
Jones also spent time with Super League outfit Hull FC in rugby league after an invitation to attend two days of training from their head coach Brett Hodgson.
The England chief added: "I am a coach and I have got to practice coaching. If you are a golfer, you play golf and if you are a coach, you coach.
"I only get 12 weeks a year to coach with England, so I have to use my time in between to practise coaching and find better ways to coach."
