Anthony Seibold has broken silence on why he had to quit England
Soon-to-exit assistant coach Anthony Seibold has broken his silence on his decision to quit England for the NRL back home in Australia, insisting there was no falling out with Eddie Jones, the head coach who has had a massive turnover in backroom staff since taking charge in 2016. It was October 13 when it emerged that Seibold was suddenly poised to become Manly Sea Eagles head coach for the 2023 NRL campaign even though he was contracted with England through to the end of the World Cup in France.
The RFU confirmed then some weeks later that Seibold would indeed quit, explaining in a November 8 statement that Brett Hodgson, the Hull Super League coach, would swap rugby codes and fill the vacancy under Jones through to the completion of RWC 2023.
England are currently preparing to host the All Blacks next Saturday in game three of their four-match Autumn Nations Series schedule and Seibold, who will exit after the November 26 game with the Springboks, explained his reasons for leaving when he fronted Tuesday’s virtually held media briefing from Pennyhill Park.
“A really difficult call being part of the set for the last 18 months now so to move back home for good, back with family, to go back to the NRL as a head coach was a big decision,” began the assistant who joined England for the 2021/22 season following the departure of John Mitchell. “Ultimately, I invested a lot of time in the group, both coaching staff and playing group, and I wanted to see it out to the World Cup.
“Initially, I had agreed to come back home for 2024 but that was brought forward by twelve months given the situation at a club where there was a change of head coach. I had to make the really difficult decision of whether it was go home now to a three-year deal with the NRL club I am going to in Manly or stay twelve months and potentially be looking for work after that point. Ultimately I made the decision about opportunity and family but it was a really, really difficult decision.”
Seibold added that despite the speculation over Jones regularly having fallings out with his assistants, he insisted nothing of the sort had taken place with him and that the England head coach was fully supportive of his assistant quitting earlier than planned to return to the NRL. “Eddie was super supportive,” said Seibold when asked about how he broke the news he was heading home.
“I gave him the phone call from Australia. Initially, I had agreed to terms in 2024 with Manly so it was a conversation on how good would it be if we build over the next twelve months and give ourselves an opportunity to win a World Cup in France. Then two weeks later the opportunity is either now or potentially there is not that opportunity for me there, so I had to make a difficult decision but Eddie has been super supportive of me.
“I first met Eddie in 2016. I worked at South Sydney, which is the club that Eddie supports back in Australia so he is passionate about it. We formed a really good relationship when I was head coach there. We turned the tide at the club and he really wanted to talk to me about what we did, what changes we made, so we have had a long-lasting relationship.
“One of the attributes of Eddie is in some ways misunderstood, he wants assistant coaches to go and be head coaches. You look at Steve Borthwick at Leicester and what he has been able to do. He was super supportive. He said, ‘Look, mate, I’ll miss you but this is a great opportunity.’
“I will continue to use Eddie as a mentor and share learnings, he is someone I have got the utmost respect for. The conversations won’t stop just because I am going home. We had conversations for three or four years leading to me taking this role. That won’t change.”
Seibold will leave insisting England have improved on his watch even though they have lost five of their 13 matches with him as defence coach. “I’m certainly a much better coach for having spent time in the programme and I have really invested in it.
“You are right, we work really hard here but that is what is expected, that is what is needed because we want to provide the best environment for the players. We are a resource for players, we are servants to the players and we do our best to give them the best preparation possible.
“I am really determined to leave the role in a really good place. I feel as though we have shown improvement with our defence, certainly if you look back on the last few Tests in Australia and on the weekend against Japan who cause a lot of trouble. I feel we are showing signs of improvement and I’ll hand over to Brett in good shape.
“He will take over the outside backs as well and if you look at our aerial contests we are ranked No1 in the world for both defensive catches and attacking catches which is something we have prided ourselves on. We worked really hard over the last 16 months to be the best at that and everyone can see that is a weapon of ours.”
Asked whether the regular turnover in assistant coaches is a hindrance to what Jones is trying to achieve with England, Seibold added: “Different coaches bring different ideas and one of my strengths is educating players, giving a clear message to players both on the field and in meetings and I feel I have got a real relationship with the outside backs.
“I feel as though we have got hold of that group. If you look at our kicks, if you look at our work off the ball and if you look at our aerial contests, we rank right up there with the best back three in world rugby regardless of who wears the No15, 14 and 11 jerseys.
“This is a demanding environment but elite sport is demanding. I have thrived in this environment, I have loved every minute of it and I go back to Australia and be a head coach as a much better coach, a much more rounded coach for the experience.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
36 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments