England shake up coaching group ahead of summer tour…

England shake up coaching group ahead of summer tour to Argentina by adding two new faces

The highly-rated Lee Blackett will join England as attack coach in Richard Wigglesworth’s absence - (PA Wire)

England have added two new, highly-rated names to their coaching set-up for the summer tours of Argentina and USA, following Richard Wigglesworth’s call-up to join the British and Irish Lions.

Attack coach Wigglesworth was added to the Lions coaching staff by head coach Andy Farrell for the series against Australia, leaving his position in Steve Borthwick’s set-up free to be filled by another name.

And it has been decided that Bath attack coach Lee Blackett will cover the position, while ex-Scotland international Byron McGuigan – who is currently defence coach with Sale Sharks – also joins the group as an assistant defence coach to Joe El-Abd. Both men are considered up and coming coaching prospects with bright futures in the sport.

England will look to build on a promising Six Nations campaign that saw them finish second in the table, just a point behind champions France – who they memorably beat 26-25 at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in round two – with their lone defeat being a 27-22 reverse to Ireland in Dublin on the opening weekend.

They face a two-Test series against the Pumas in Argentina in early July, which should provide a good opportunity for the next generation of players to experience the England environment with many of the star players on Lions duty, before travelling to take on the US in Washington, after which Blackett and McGuigan will return to their clubs.

“Lee and Byron will be excellent additions to our coaching group this summer,” said England head coach Borthwick. “England have traditionally travelled to Argentina when the British and Irish Lions play.

“It is a summer series that has always provided a fantastic opportunity for Premiership coaches to work in the Test environment. I am delighted that we are able to do just that once again.

“Lee and Byron both have a mindset and approach to their coaching that very much align with how we want to continue to play. Lee has a proven track record of developing teams that play smart and effective attacking rugby. Byron brings an energy and strong understanding of the game that underpins an aggressive defence.”

With Blackett guiding their attack, Bath are currently 15 points clear atop the Gallagher Premiership table and the 568 points they’ve scored in the league this season is almost 50 points more than Bristol Bears, the second-highest scoring team in the competition.

Meanwhile, Sale lie third in the table and only the two teams above them have conceded fewer than the 358 points they have, as McGuigan has helped fashion a tough, resilient defence and made the Sharks a hard team to break down both at home and on the road.

Byron McGuigan made 10 appearances for Scotland during his playing career (Getty)

Blackett started his coaching journey with Rotherham Titans in 2012, becoming the youngest head coach in England rugby’s top two tiers a year later before joining Wasps as first attack coach, then head coach. When Wasps went under in 2022, he moved to Welsh side Scarlets as backs and skills coach and is now in his second campaign at Bath, while also coaching England ‘A’ in victories over Australia ‘A’ and Ireland ‘A’ in the past six months.

Meanwhile, McGuigan won 10 Scotland caps as a winger in his playing career and made over 100 appearances for Sale before becoming their defence coach back in November, a role in which he has already impressed.

In addition to Blackett and McGuigan, Phil Morrow will also begin his role as England’s head of team performance on a permanent basis.