Nick Evans is expected to be named as England’s attack coach in advance of the Six Nations tournament, according to The. Times.
Evans, a former All Black, has previously worked with Marcus Smith at Harlequins and is expected to join the England coaching staff only for the duration of the championship.
New England boss Steve Borthwick is primed to add two more coaches to his team; one to fix their scrum woes while the other the ill be tasked with getting the attack firing.
Evans is the new favourite for the attacking role, though Sam Vesty at Northampton Saints is also thought to be in the running.
With more than 200 Harlequins appearances to his name, Evans is the Club’s record points scorer with 2,249 points in a Harlequins career spanning nine years.
Beginning his career at Otago as a fullback, he quickly developed into a ruthless fly-half. Nick made his New Zealand debut in 2004 against England and went on to make 16 appearances, scoring 103 points.
After representing the All Blacks during the 2007 Rugby World Cup, he joined Harlequins from The Blues and played an integral role in the Club’s successes in the professional era; kicking a touchline conversion to win the Amlin Challenge Cup in 2011 and contributing 20 points in the 2012 Aviva Premiership final.
Evans produced one of the most memorable moments in the Club’s history when he scored a last minute drop goal against Stade Francais in the 2008 Heineken Cup pool stage following 29 phases.
New scrum coach:
Saracens coach Ian Peel and former England U20 boss is under consideration to replace Matt Proudfoot as scrum coach.
The former Newcastle Falcons forward has been involved with the national age-grade side for two years, firstly as an assistant, and won the Junior World Championship in successive years (2013 and 2014) as well as reaching the 2015 final.
He also led England to the 2015 U20 Six Nations title having finished runners-up the season before.
Peel, alongside Alex Sanderson and Joe Shaw, headed to New Zealand in 2017 to further develop their knowledge and his set-piece defence ideas were used by Super Rugby franchise Crusaders in their final victory over the Lions.
Sir Clive Woodward selects England XV to ‘win the Six Nations’
The former England head coach is backing new head coach Steve Borthwick to get England on a roll by calling up the in-form Premiership stars.
“England can absolutely win the Six Nations and the World Cup. The more I think about it, the more excited I am about Steve Borthwick’s appointment as head coach,” wrote Woodward.
“I’m hugely excited for England’s first game with Scotland. Borthwick is in a good position to bring immediate improvement to the team because the pressure is off him and the only way is up after a disappointing last three years.
“Borthwick needs to nail down who he wants in his starting 15, but especially the key positions of 10, 12 and 13. He has to get the culture right.
“I’d like to see form Premiership players like Ollie Hassell-Collins and Ben Earl given a chance and bring a fresh, youthful vibrancy to the England set-up. Since the 2019 World Cup, Jones picked virtually the same players almost regardless of their club form.
“I think that will change under Borthwick and his selection for the Scotland game is an opportunity to really lay down a marker.”
Sir Clive Woodward England XV
BACK-THREE:
- 15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
- 14. Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish)
- 11. Adam Radwan (Newcastle Falcons)
Woodward wrote: “’”There are some serious speedsters in the Premiership and I don’t think Joe Cokanasiga, Jack Nowell and Jonny May are at the top of the pile.
“I’d love to see him pick from guys like Tommy Freeman, Adam Radwan, Cadan Murley and Ollie Hassell-Collins.”
CENTRES:
- 13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
- 12. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks)
