Anthony Seibold on English rugby, loving league again and stars who’d thrive in NRL

Seibold has only just returned to Sydney after helping Jones and England through the autumn tour, where they won three Tests and conceded only one try.

One of those wins was over the Wallabies, an experience Seibold described as bizarre given his loyalty to the land of his birth and his relationship with several Rugby Australia staff, including departing director of rugby Scott Johnson.

Seibold is contracted through to the 2023 World Cup with England and insists he will emerge from the experience a better coach.

“It has really, really invigorated me in a lot of ways because I have been coaching for a long time, but I am not an expert in the Xs and Os of rugby union,” Seibold said.

“I have been learning – in some ways learning on the run. I have clarity around what I need to do and the way I need to prepare the group, the way Eddie has explained it to me – just think of yourself as the head coach of the defence.

“That is the mentality I have taken. I feel like I am a better coach already after the experience of the last couple of years. I feel as though it is a unique opportunity.

“I have been an assistant coach with Queensland State of Origin and now I have been an assistant coach with England rugby union.

“Both are elite sporting bodies and you can’t help but not be challenged to get better in environments like that.”

At the same time, Seibold acknowledges he will always miss rugby league.

“I grew up in rugby league,” he said.

“I have been involved since I was four or five years old. I miss rugby league but I don’t think it is the worst thing for me to be out of the spotlight here in Australia.

“I have started reading newspapers again for the first time in two years. I love rugby league.

“I fell out of love with it a little bit at times over the last year or two.”

That love was tested when his move to the Brisbane Broncos turned sour but Jones’ offer arrived at the perfect time.

After a stint as a consultant with Newcastle, Seibold jumped at the chance to join the England staff, having struck up a relationship with Jones — a rabid South Sydney fan — several years ago.

Jones is renowned for extracting his pound of flesh from his assistants but Seibold didn’t hesitate. He spent more than a month in England with barely a day off, but walked away with a deep sense of satisfaction at having played a significant role in the side’s success.

He also departed with a deep respect for the sheer size of the code in England and the ability of the players.

“It was a really positive experience,” he said.

“It is obviously challenging changing codes. I wanted to test myself. Working with Eddie — there is probably no one better in world coaching.

“We had a lot of success over the autumn series – won all three games and only conceded one try.

“We scored some really good tries as well. What was really surprising was just how big the game is over there.

“We had 82,000 at all three Test matches at Twickenham and it was unlike any other atmosphere I have been involved in other than Origin.”

He hopes to use his relationships in rugby league to set up some meetings when England tour Australia next year.

“The guys who grew up in the north of England, follow rugby league and were asking heaps of questions about some of the NRL players they see on TV,” Seibold said.

“Raffi Quirke who is a promising young halfback coming through – scored a great try against the Springboks in the last Test – he had heaps of questions about Nathan Cleary in particular and his passing and kicking game.

“He has watched a lot of him. It would be really great to connect the guys when we tour Australia in July. Raffi was really intrigued about how Cleary went about his business, he really liked how he did it.”

TWO ENGLAND PLAYERS WHO WOULD BE RUGBY LEAGUE STARS:

TOM CURRY

He remains me of Bradley Clyde – big body, powerful guy, trained exceptionally hard, the way he carried himself off the field was really professional. I was lucky enough to play two years with Clydey at Canberra, in the late 90s. He just reminded me of Clyde the way he went about his business – his effort areas within the game were immense.

HENRY SLADE

His skill level was extremely high. I think both those guys (Curry and Slade) would transition to rugby league exceptionally well. If you said, ‘You have an opportunity to go to league’, those two guys are standouts for sure. But I was just really impressed with the way all the guys went about their business.

- News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom