Sunday 13 December 2015 16:29, UK
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall has confirmed the club’s defence coach Paul Gustard has been offered a role with England by new head coach Eddie Jones.
Gustard is the second man identified by Jones to be part of his coaching team with the RFU already having moved to add Bristol forwards coach Steve Borthwick.
Speaking after Saracens emphatic 45-10 win over Oyonnax in France on Sunday, McCall confirmed the club had been contacted by England and said he expects a resolution on Gustard's future to be reached quickly.
McCall told Sky Sports: "Paul has been offered a job by Eddie and the RFU. I guess he's considering his position. There will be a decision, I suppose, very quickly between the RFU and the club because he has 18 more months of his contract left with us. I'm sure that will be sorted out in the next couple of days.
"We've had a lot of young English players come through in the last six years. We had Andy Farrell who left us three years ago to go to the national set-up. We seem to be a good breeding ground for players and staff to get to international level.
"Paul has been a huge, huge part of what we've done over the last six-and-a-bit. If he does go he will be sorely missed. I think what we've build over the last six-and-a-bit years, when someone leaves, whether it is a player or a member of staff, we just motor on. That will be the case if Paul does go."
Reports in some of Sunday's national papers suggest that Jones is set to axe Andy Farrell, Graham Rowntree and Mike Catt, who all worked under Jones' predecessor Stuart Lancaster.
Sky Sports rugby analyst Will Greenwood believes it is natural for Jones to bring in his own coaching staff as he attempts to revitalise the team following England's disappointing World Cup campaign.
"It sounds like he is [going to make changes]. They may well go. He's been very tight-lipped, he's been at a lot of the games and he's not done any interviews yet," Greenwood said.
"It is not a surprising thing to happen. When a new man comes in he brings his team with him. That would be what we expect to happen."
