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The thing Kevin Sinfield enjoys most about his changed England role
Kevin Sinfield has explained the aspect he enjoys most working with England in a different role during the current Guinness Six Nations. The legendary rugby league player was appointed defence coach when Steve Borthwick succeeded Eddie Jones as head coach for last year’s championship.
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England endured quite a bit of pain getting used to their new system under Sinfield, conceding 30 tries in their initial nine games. Their cover plan eventually stuck during the Rugby World Cup, a campaign in France that culminated in a bronze medal finish.
However, the arrival of Felix Jones into the England set-up from the tournament-winning Springboks resulted in Sinfield relinquishing his responsibilities as the defence coach.
He is instead currently working as skills and kicking, but that revised role will end following the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand and he will then leave the Borthwick staff.
Having begun their latest Six Nations campaign with two successive wins for the first time since 2019, England hosted an open training session on Friday in front of 10,000 fans at Twickenham and Sinfield took a short break to tell a live edition of England Rugby O2 Inside Line what he has enjoyed most about his revised role.
Six Nations
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
Ireland
2
2
0
0
10
2
England
2
2
0
0
8
3
Scotland
2
1
1
0
5
4
France
2
1
1
0
4
5
Wales
2
0
2
0
3
6
Italy
2
0
2
0
1
“I like working with the nines and 10s,” he said before former England skipper Dylan Hartley asked about coaching kicking to the front-rowers. “Not really. Ellis (Genge) is really keen to put a kick in now and again but hopefully you have seen we started the session with some team handling, we expect everybody to be able to catch and pass properly.
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“It’s been a big part of the philosophy of where we are taking the team. Hopefully, you’ll see some front rowers passing today and carrying, but it’s important that every players has a good skill set.
“We try and identify some areas within players’ games that we feel we can get improvements to either help them individually or help the team.
“So some of that has been a collective approach on catch and pass and then I work closely with the goal kickers, do a bit with our strategy on kicking, nines and 10s in particular.
“How we implement a kick, what it looks like, how we use it when we have got a left-footer in the team, how do we use that the best – we have got a full-back [Freddie Steward] who has got a big boot, how do we use that?
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“There is a bit of strategy in there but it has been really enjoyable. I work closely with Felix and Richard (Wigglesworth, attack coach) on that and obviously with Steve. We have got Andrew Strawbridge with us as well, who is very big on his skill acquisition stuff. These last few weeks have been really enjoyable for us.”
It will be mid-July, following the second Test versus the All Blacks in Auckland, when Sinfield’s year-and-a-half involvement with England will end. He insisted he would walk away with only good things to say. “I have loved it; it has just been a wonderful experience,” he explained.
“Days like today [the opening training session] when you see what England rugby is about, it has never been lost on me. You can represent your country at anything but it’s the pinnacle to be involved with the players, the relationships and friendships I have got from the playing group, that has been the most important thing for me.
“I finished my playing career, I don’t remember any of the medals or the trophies we won but what was important was the people I shared time with and continue to do. I hope that will be the same here. I love representing England rugby and I have only got good things to say.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Pacific Lions, cry me a river
124 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
124 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
124 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
124 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
124 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
124 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
124 Go to commentsHo hum.
124 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
124 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
124 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
124 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
124 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
124 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
124 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
124 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
124 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
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