Steve Borthwick’s overhaul of England’s coaching team has continued with forwards coach Richard Cockerill announcing on Tuesday he will join Montpellier after the Six Nations.
Cockerill has been looking after the scrum in this campaign and was the last member of Eddie Jones’ staff to keep his job with the England team under Borthwick. Jones left his post as head coach after the autumn internationals with Borthwick replacing him.
Borthwick has since brought in Kevin Sinfield and Nick Evans to his backroom staff, with Brett Hodgson, Matt Proudfoot and Martin Gleeson moving on. Cockerill will continue working with England through to the end of the Six Nations before taking up a role with Top 14 side Montpellier.
“It has been an honour to not only play for my country but to also get the chance to coach England,” Cockerill said. “Having coached and played in France previously, my family and I always had aspirations to return. This opportunity presented itself some time ago and it was too hard to turn down personally and professionally.
“It is disappointing not to work with Steve and the wider team beyond the Six Nations. I had hoped to be able stay for the Rugby World Cup, but the timings weren’t meant to be. I will continue to be fully focused on England and this Six Nations campaign, working with this group of players as they begin a new journey together.
“I know how much playing for England means for this group and I look forward to watching them later in the year and seeing just what they can achieve. It’s exciting to see what change has happened so far in such a short period of time.”
Borthwick said: “Richard has been, and continues to be, an excellent coach and has provided invaluable support and guidance to our players.
“You can tell how much pride he had in playing for his country and he has the same pride in working for his country as a coach. I know it was a difficult decision for him to leave and he has our support.
“We will continue to work hard together as a coaching group as we work to help build an England team that gets to where we all want it be.”
England lost their Six Nations opener 29-23 to Scotland on Saturday. They face Italy at Twickenham on Sunday.