The Leeds connection helping to set the tone for England's future

Lee Blackett was only 28 but the coaching instincts that would one day lead him to Twickenham were already apparent.

- by Nick Westby

LEEDS TOGETHER: Lee Blackett, left, and Kevin Sinfield on England coaching duty back in the summer. Both men showed their instincts for the job during spells with Leeds/Yorkshire Carnegie.

Kevin Sinfield was 35, a rugby league legend dipping his toe into union waters, not appreciating himself just how quickly he would be fast-tracked within the 15-man game.

On Saturday they were at the Allianz Stadium together, key cogs in Steve Borthwick's England coaching team.

Sinfield has been around for a few years, first as defence coach and now as skills and kicking guru. Blackett enjoyed a successful cameo as backs coach on the summer tour to the Americas and has been promoted full-time to the national team.

Both men were shaped by their time at Leeds/Yorkshire Carnegie, and one man witnessed first hand their thirst for knowledge and innate ability to lead.

Pete Lucock is now head coach of Leeds Tykes and at age 32, already following Blackett in answering the call at an early age. His first year as a Carnegie (as the club was known then) player was in 2011 and coincided with Blackett's last. By the 2015/2016 season he was a senior member of the squad Sinfield came into.

"Lee knew the game really well," begins Lucock. "Being a young kid coming in, if there was anything I needed to know, Blackett was the man. I didn't even need to ask.