'He has got my vote': Sanderson names his choice to succeed Jones
Alex Sanderson has urged the RFU to appoint Mark McCall or Andy Farrell as Eddie Jones’ England successor. Twickenham has already begun the search for the right candidate to take over from Jones when his contract expires after next year’s World Cup with an Englishman the clear preference.
Whoever is chosen could shadow Jones throughout the global showpiece that is being staged in France and must be in place for the following Six Nations. Sale director of rugby Sanderson, who has also been linked with the role, views Steve Borthwick as the England favourite but believes that two other of his former Saracens colleagues – McCall or Farrell – would be ideal.
Ex-Ireland fly-half McCall is in his eleventh year as Saracens boss while Farrell is currently overseeing an impressive Irish resurgence that included a 32-15 win over England earlier this month. “Mark is ready for it now. He has got my vote. He would be great for it if Ireland doesn’t want him, or maybe they could do swapsies between Andy Farrell and Mark! I don’t know how those things work,” Sanderson said.
“They are both really good coaches. Any international team would be lucky to have them. It’s important that the powers that be get an understanding of what that head coach role looks like, and needs to be.
“I’ll go back again and wax lyrical about Mark McCall, who is just a bonafide legend in my eyes. He has got to be one of the most underrated coaches. How has he not picked up international honours in his tenure at Sarries when he has won everything multiple times over?”
Farrell’s route to Twickenham is made trickier by his role with Ireland, which would prevent him from accompanying Jones to the World Cup, but the process of prising Borthwick away from Leicester would be less complicated. Adding to the strength of Borthwick’s claims is his previous international experience as an assistant to Jones with Japan and England and the Tigers’ runaway success in the Gallagher Premiership this season.
“Steve has definitely got experience. I would say he was the forerunner right now given his track record this year as well,” Sanderson said. “He would be brilliant. I’m sure he has got work to do at Leicester, but he is ambitious isn’t he? He went straight from playing to coaching Japan. That can’t have been easy. And then straight from an assistant to this Leicester role, which I know is not easy. He’s nailed them both. Where is the ceiling for Steve Borthwick? He hasn’t reached it yet.”
Counting against Sanderson is his lack of experience as a number one having only taken over as the Sale director of rugby last year, prior to which he was a respected assistant coach at Saracens. “I don’t think I’m anywhere near ready yet. I haven’t proved myself, I have still a way to go and work to do here for years,” he said. “Is it something I’d be interested in? Of course. Every coach with ambition wants to coach at the highest level. That’s the highest level, but it’s a long way down the line.”
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments