BEN Scully is hoping that Colchester Rugby Club can profit from his past link-up with England head coach Eddie Jones – and make a sustained title push.

Scully has taken over as head coach at Mill Road, having made the switch from their London One North rivals Sudbury at the end of the last campaign.

The 30-year-old already boasts an extensive and varied background in the game including a full year spent with Jones as part of his internship with England Rugby, in 2016.

As part of the coaching scheme, Scully enjoyed numerous one-on-one detailed meetings with Jones.

He was also involved in the England coaching set-up for their Six Nations preparations that year, along with being pitchside for their game against Australia.

Scully, who previously worked as RFU Community Rugby Coach, said: “It was unbelievable to be involved in and a really eye-opening experience for me.

“I didn’t go in there with a notepad, writing everything down.

“It’s about taking the bits I liked but also putting my style on it.

“I’d like to think that I keep the boys on my toes with my coaching and that they are never sure what they’re going to come up against.

“It’s about high energy and bringing in a kind of chaos, which I think is the way that the game is going.”

Scully admits being offered the chance to take over as Colchester’s head coach was an offer he could not refuse.

The former Southend and Bury St Edmunds player had been head coach of Sudbury for three years but is now focused on helping the Blacks in their promotion quest.

Scully was approached by Colchester’s director of rugby Anthony O’Riordan, with whom he works at St Joseph’s College in Ipswich.

“We got talking about my movements for the future,” said Scully, who is also head coach of the Norwegian national rugby team.

“One thing led to another, an offer got put on the table and it was one that I couldn’t say no to.

“There are very exciting things happening at the club such as the new clubhouse and I would have been silly to have said ‘no’ to such an exciting opportunity.

“Anthony and I get on really well and work together well.

“We have our views on the game and I think we complement each other well.”

Scully this weekend makes a swift return to his former club Sudbury with Colchester, who made a winning start to the new campaign with victory over Shelford last Saturday.

“We’ll be looking to get a result and keep that snowball going,” he added.

“That is still a learning tool for us but the main thing for the weekend was to come away with the win.

“I’m excited that the season is up and running now and we’re looking forward to building some momentum.

“It was important that we got back to the winning feeling.

“The scoreline was closer than it should have been.

“We had opportunities to get away from them but we weren’t as clinical as we could have been.”