Legendary flanker George Smith says he would probably turn down Eddie Jones on moral grounds if his long-time mentor were to approach him with a plea to fix England’s breakdown struggles.
Smith, who has taken up a six-month contract with newly promoted Bristol Bears for the start of the forthcoming season, oversaw a breakdown clinic for England while he was at Wasps in January 2016.
That year’s Six Nations, Jones’s first tournament in charge, brought England their first Grand Slam since 2003.
“I haven’t been in contact with Eddie about helping his team,” said the 38-year-old, who was signed to the ACT Brumbies by Jones in 2000. “I’m very much focused on Bristol Bears. That might sound like a line, but it’s not.
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“He has not been in contact with me and it wouldn’t be right for me to do that because I have been in the English camp [before] and last year I was in the Wallabies camp.
“Morally, I probably wouldn’t do it – just because I have seen the inner sanctum of both camps. I would not put myself in that position.”