Six Nations 2024: Kevin Sinfield ‘humble enough’ to support new England defence

Former England defence coach Kevin Sinfield says he is “humble enough” to support Felix Jones’ new defence.

Sinfield, 43, now coaches individual skills and kicking, and will move in a “different direction” after England’s summer tour of Japan and New Zealand.

“I want to win so why wouldn’t I do something that would help us win,” Sinfield told Rugby Union Daily.

“My feelings on the role I play here are irrelevant and I will continue to do my best while I am here and try and help the lads and support the coaches.

“It is a funny situation but I feel like I am humble enough to go: ‘I want to win, I want to support’.”

The rugby league legend had been Steve Borthwick’s right-hand man since the pair left Leicester Tigers to coach England at the end of 2022.

After a difficult start to 2023, when England finished fourth in the Six Nations before suffering World Cup warm-up defeats by Wales and Fiji, their defence improved at the World Cup.

However, Borthwick’s side were defeated by the Springboks in the semi-finals and failed to score a try against a defence which was coached by Jones, who then helped South Africa to back-to-back World Cups as a coach.

“Very quickly we established a healthy relationship and that will continue for a long time. Whether I am with England or not, I will keep in touch with Felix,” he added.

“I have been asked several times what is next and I am really not too sure, but that is what is really exciting about the future as I will be able to shape it and make it fit.”

Tuilagi & Lawrence passed fit for Scotland

Ollie Lawrence and Manu Tuilagi have been passed fit and available for England’s Six Nations game against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Both centres missed their side’s opening victories over Italy and Wales because of injury and face a difficult job to disperse the combination of Fraser Dingwall and Henry Slade.

However, the pair were picked ahead of Dingwall and Slade for last autumn’s World Cup squad.

“It has gone from an area where we thought we were pretty light – especially at the start of the tournament – to now having six good ones,” Sinfield added.

“Fraser [Dingwall] and Henry [Slade] offer a bit more ball movement and a bit more finesse at the line, but what Manu and Ollie bring is they will kick the door down.

“It’s about trying to find the right balance for us this weekend. Ollie [Lawrence] and Manu [Tuilagi] haven’t been in with us that long but we know them pretty well from the World Cup and what they’ve done previously.

“Then there’s the experience of Henry and Fraser’s ball skills and game management in and around that midfield, so we’ve got a real healthy competition there.”

Scrum-half Alex Mitchell was ruled out of the game at Murrayfield and will see a specialist on Tuesday to determine the extent of his injury.

Second row George Martin is available after missing the opening two rounds.