Kevin Sinfield revealed that he is leaving the England set-up in the summer for “personal reasons” but is keen to stay in rugby union coaching.
Sinfield was Steve Borthwick’s first appointment as England head coach, following him from Leicester Tigers as defence coach in December 2022. Earlier this month, the Rugby Football Union confirmed Sinfield would be stepping down after the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand in July. To accommodate the arrival of Felix Jones as the new defence coach, his role was also downgraded for this Six Nations Championship to skills coach.
The inspirational Sinfield was granted a CBE in the New Year’s Honours list having raised millions for motor neurone disease research in aid of his former Leeds Rhinos team-mate Rob Burrow. Yet having only crossed into rugby coaching in 2021 when he joined Leicester from the Rhinos, Sinfield hopes to remain in union despite having nothing immediately lined up when his England commitments finish.
“Do I still want to coach? Yes. What that looks like, I’m not sure at this stage,” Sinfield said. “I’m pretty excited about what’s to come this year with England, and then there is a lot of unknown for me and I don’t know what it looks like going forward. I’ll make the best of it.
“I don’t know where that is or what it looks like, but I’ve really enjoyed coaching and I don’t ever feel like I really left rugby league because of my role with Rugby League Cares, the charitable arm of the sport. What I do know is I want to continue to support and help people.
“When what happened with Rob [Burrow] happened it was a big shift in my life, and it felt right to use my experience as a player to help me support players and other people. I try and use that in the best way moving forward. I won’t rule out anything at this stage, as I think I’d be daft to. I think it’s very unlikely I’ll go back into rugby league, but I’ll never say no.
“I think you will understand my main focus is the team this week. I don’t want anything to disrupt our performance. They are personal reasons, and I think for that they need to remain private. I think it’s important my reasons are kept private for now.”
Sinfield admits it has been an eye-opening experience going from club to international coaching when hands-on time with the players is at an absolute premium. Under Sinfield, England’s defence improved markedly at the World Cup, where they finished third, but he believes that Borthwick can take them to even greater heights in 2027.
“The World Cup was a great experience,” Sinfield added. “Getting a medal at the end given where we were in the summer, means I’m certainly leaving with some fond memories from last year. I love spending time with the players, love the connections I’ve been able to build, the friendships I’ve got with the coaching team. I’ve made some lifelong friends with some of the management team here that I will keep in touch forever.
“I’ll keep in touch with the staff and the coaching team, I want England to win and although I’ll only be part of this four-year cycle for a short period of time, it doesn’t change what I want to see in 2027. It has been too long since we won a World Cup. Full stop. I want the team to grow and I want them to win some silverware.”
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