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England head coach Eddie Jones wants World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson to be part of his coaching team
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Wilkinson, whose playing career finished in 2014, has yet to agree to Jones’ invitation
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It was Wilkinson’s late drop-goal that helped England beat Jones’ Australia in the final of the 2003 World Cup
Eddie Jones has invited England legend Jonny Wilkinson to join his coaching team after meeting with the World Cup-winning fly-half at a supermarket.
The former adversaries – Wilkinson’s England defeated Australia, then coached by Jones, in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final – came across each other in a supermarket not far from England’s training base and discussed Wilkinson joining the national side’s coaching staff.
Whilst talks were initially unsuccessful, Jones hasn’t given up hope of involving Wilkinson further down the road.
“We would like to get Jonny involved, but he’s quite a private person. We are having chats about it,” Jones said.
“I saw him down at Waitrose shopping with a beanie over his head. I had coffee with him,” added Jones, who has appointed Steve Borthwick, a former England team-mate of Wilkinson’s, and Paul Gustard as forwards and defence coach respectively.
Wilkinson won 91 England caps, is his country’s leading points scorer and is one of just five men to score 1,000 points in international rugby union, with his total of 1,246 second only to New Zealand great Dan Carter.
“After we had coffee he went and did a kicking session, and he doesn’t play any more,” said Jones, who succeeded Stuart Lancaster following England’s early exit from the 2015 World Cup.