Kevin Sinfield was planning for England role for 15 years, says old Yorkshire Carnegie team-mate Rob Vickerman

Sinfield takes his place in the Twickenham stands for the first time today as defence coach alongside new head coach Steve Borthwick, as England welcome Scotland for the latest chapter in the storied Calcutta Cup rivalry and the opening game of the Six Nations Championship.

After a career as a serial winner of rugby league titles with Leeds Rhinos, Sinfield only switched to coaching union midway through the 2020-21 season.

But after helping Borthwick mastermind Leicester Tigers’ unbeaten Premiership-winning campaign a season later, Sinfield was the first person Borthwick brought with him in December when his appointment as replacement for the sacked Eddie Jones was confirmed.

Staunch supporters of the union game may be sceptical of what a man steeped in the 13-man code can bring to the 15-a-side game, but for one of his former team-mates, Sinfield’s union education has been going on since his twenties.

Rob Vickerman was a centre for Leeds Tykes in the mid 2000s, sharing a Kirkstall training base with the Rhinos and their inquisitive talisman.

"You could rewind the clock 15 years and say that’s how long Kev had his eye on rugby union,” says Vickerman, who himself went on to represent England in Rugby Sevens and now commentates on and promotes the shorter form of the game around the world.

"He was always in and around the club, certainly when it was Rhinos-Tykes, constantly asking questions. He had a really good relationship with Stuart Lancaster, he continued that relationship with the next few coaches that came in: Andy Key, Neil Back. The seed was sewn then that he might be looking at union. I remember Sale were quite interested in him when he was at the Rhinos.”

Sinfield resisted the temptation to cross codes until the twilight of his career, and even then he only moved across the Kirkstall training paddock, swapping his Rhinos uniform for that of Yorkshire Carnegie, the rebranded Tykes.

Sinfield played 18 games in the 2015-16 season, sharing a training base once again with Vickerman, who had returned to finish his own career with Carnegie.

"I never got to play with him but spent a bit of time just chatting with him, giving him that general understanding by answering any questions he asked,” Vickerman told The Yorkshire Post.

"When he then eventually made the transition into the Tykes/Carnegie set-up it was done with an intention to not only understand everything about the game, but also the administration side of it as well.

"I found that really interesting that from his point of view when he’d sit down and have questions about the styles and structures of games and how it pans out on the field, he also had an inclination to understand how it worked off the field and you could tell that the intensity that he brought into these discussions and debates was going to be of a huge value. I remember seeing him at some of the bigger games we were involved in, he’d be there in the crowd with Paul Caddick and board members.

"He was someone who bridged that potentially difficult situation between Rhinos and Tykes because with the infinite success of the league team compared to very little success for the union team, it was always a delicate area. But he had a great relationship with the likes of (Carnegie player) Rob Rawlinson, and some of the other senior players. You could not respect the bloke enough, not only was he talented but he was a great people person as well.”

Sinfield’s initial foray into coaching and administration came with England RL and then with Leeds, but the two and a half years he spent as director of rugby at Rhinos came during a transitional time for the club. "For me, it was always a case of where he was going to find success, not when,” continues Vickerman.

"I was probably little bit shocked why it didn’t work out as he had hoped at the Rhinos, but having been in that system for 20 years it was going to be difficult for anyone.

"I think the Leicester model was the perfect fit for him; the traditional format of the club, the fact that he had Borthwick around him.

"I’m really excited to see how Kev goes. You only have to hear him talk, he’s an inspiration and when you’re around that it rubs off on you.”

Borthwick and Sinfield take over in World Cup year, with England having just the five games of the Six Nations and three August friendlies to prepare for the World Cup in France in September.

"If you watched Leicester the last 18 months they had a system and a structure that played to their strengths,” says Vickerman. "It’s a very different proposition when you try and replicate that with people who have different systems and understanding of the game.

"But Kev is meticulous, add to that Borthwick’s attention to detail and I think these two coaches have the right recipe to balance that short-term success with a longer-term development pathway.”