McNamara remains as England coach

Steve McNamara has signed a new deal to stay on as England coach, despite agreeing to become an assistant coach at NRL club Sydney Roosters.

McNamara will now head the national team in a part-time capacity, and combine the two roles, working under former Catalan coach Trent Robinson at the NRL champions.

He said: “I would like to thank the RFL Board of Directors for giving me this opportunity to carry on working with an outstanding group of players who I firmly believe are on the verge of achieving sustained success.

“I have a great team around me within the England camp and the RFL Performance Department and I will be maintaining regular contact with them all, as well as all the Elite Training Squad players, following my move to Australia.

“I am going to miss rubbing shoulders with the fantastic RFL staff that I have been privileged to work with over the last four years: I’m indebted to them for their friendship and support.

“It’s always been an ambition of mine to coach in the NRL and the chance to work with the NRL champions is something that doesn’t come along very often.

“I have a great relationship with Trent Robinson and am looking forward to working alongside him and the rest of the Roosters staff in what is a very exciting chapter in my career.”

McNamara took over as England coach in 2010, and led them to a semi-final defeat against New Zealand at the 2013 World Cup.

RFL Chief Executive Nigel Wood said: “It gives me great pleasure to confirm that Steve has agreed to continue as England coach into 2014 when we will be looking to build on the advances seen over the last four years.

“We have made considerable progress internationally over the past four years and this arrangement provides stability and continuity.

“It also allows Steve and the England coaching staff to continue working towards our goal of achieving the international success we so narrowly missed out on in Rugby League World Cup 2013.”