Smith Enlisted to Help England Featured
George Smith
21 January 2016. England has called on another Aussie to help its national Rugby cause, with Wallabies veteran George Smith cleared by his club to assist with England's breakdown woes.
New England coach Eddie Jones, who coached Smith in Australia, told the UK’s Sky Sports on Wednesday that the 111-cap Wallabies flanker would be visiting the team to help fix the problem area.
“We had a cup of coffee last week and he agreed he’s going to come down and do some work with us on the breakdown,” Jones said. “It’s a very informal relationship and it’s really more about the relationship I have with George but he’s obviously a world-class player and we can only benefit from his tuition.”
The 35-year-old is still considered one of the top opensides of his era and would bring invaluable advice to the England camp, in an area that proved a significant issue in their disappointing World Cup campaign.
Jones has spoken of his keenness to get Smith involved in breakdown coaching but was previously unsure whether his English club Wasps would allow that.
This week, though, Wasps director of Rugby Dai Young said the team wouldn’t stand in Smith’s way. ‘I know that Eddie has a relationship with George going back a long way,” he said.
“We are here to support England and their management and if we can help, we will. If George could be of assistance – rather than being an assistant – helping the national team do well, and it doesn’t affect what we are doing, then I’ve got no problem with it.”
England was criticised in the World Cup for failing to select a specialist seven and the decision spectacularly backfired on them against Wales and Australia, with the latter ultimately knocking the hosts of their own World Cup.
Source: Australian Rugby
