RFU reveal plan for England with home-grown coach to succeed Jones

England rugby bosses have revealed their succession plan to replace Eddie Jones with a team of home-grown coaches after next year's World Cup.

The Rugby Football Union has prepared a shortlist of English candidates in an effort to avoid having to turn to another big-ticket overseas coach - ruling out the likes of Warren Gatland.

Bill Sweeney, the RFU's chief executive, wants to appoint the successor to Jones by the summer of 2023. They could even follow the French model whereby the successful candidate shadows Jones at the World Cup.

'We've got an advanced succession plan in place,' Sweeney said. 'We've got a war room that's got every English coach you can imagine - based here and based internationally. It's got contracts and all sorts of things. There's a very definite plan.

'We believe we've got such a wealth of English coaches in the game. As a leading rugby nation, we should be developing English coaches and an English style of play. That should be long-term and therefore the preference would be to have an English set-up as far as I'm concerned.'

Following another disappointing Six Nations campaign, there have been widespread calls to replace Jones before next year's World Cup in France.

However, Sweeney doubled down on his support for the Australian coach and ruled out an immediate move for the likes of New Zealanders Gatland or Steve Hansen. Jones is one of the highest paid coaches in world rugby but Sweeney insisted the RFU are not financially handcuffed by an expensive termination clause in his contract.

'Warren Gatland hasn't been approached because we believe that Eddie's the person to take us through to 2023,' Sweeney said.

'There's nothing financially that would have an impact on a decision. Because Eddie's