Denis Betts leaves England role

Widnes coach Denis Betts has left his role as England assistant coach, the RFL has confirmed.

Wayne Bennett, who recently confirmed he would be staying as head coach for two more years, has made changes to his back room team, though Paul Wellens (assistant coach) and Jamie Peacock (team manager) will remain.

England tried and failed to persuade Castleford coach Daryl Powell to join the set up recently.

RFL Rugby Director, Kevin Sinfield, said: “Wayne likes to freshen up his coaching team and has consistently done this wherever he has been. Denis has done an outstanding job over the last two years and his contribution should not be underestimated.”

Chris Black has joined the staff as Human Performance Lead.

Bennett added: “First of all I want to thank Denis for his contribution over the last two years, he has been a great assistant coach and I appreciate all his efforts.

“We welcome Chris Black in to the staff and I’m certain his knowledge and insight will be extremely beneficial to the squad as we look ahead to the Test matches against New Zealand this year.”