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Australian Eddie Jones is set to become the first foreign coach of the England rugby team after Super Rugby’s Stormers agreed to a 143,000 Euro contract buyout by the RFU.
Jones is pretty much the last experienced man standing after most other coaches expressed their lack of interest.
The RFU has been in disarray since England’s early exit from the Rugby World Cup.
They held on to the incumbent coach, Stuart Lancaster, way too long when he should have been asked to walk the day after the loss. Secondly, they made a mess of the coaching selection process. The rank panic coming out of the RFU saw all self respecting coaches yell out ‘hell no’, including Australian coach Michael Cheika.
So the only obvious coaching options left that hold plenty of experience – the only qualification after the Lancaster debacle – were Jones and South African Jake White.
Both coaches are a suitable fit, particularly if England plan to continue with the 20th century-style rugby that Lancaster reverted to during the World Cup – grinding forward in hope of a penalty shot and kicking the ball away to sweat on opposition mistakes.
Nowadays many call this style of play Jakeball, named after White. White took South Africa to a World Cup win in 2007, a time when most of the audience turned the telly over to the football at half time to get some excitement.
Jones has a bit more to him as coach and will look to evolve the English team but I doubt he will have them attacking to the same degree as Japan in the World Cup. Lacking in firepower, Jones understood that the only way Japan could win matches against higher ranked teams was to throw everything they had at the challenge. It worked beautifully – and Jones deserves the credit.
However handing Jones a first tier team again may be a mistake. The pressure to win will be immense, with the Six Nations only months away – followed closely by a three-match Test series against a highly motivated Wallabies team in June. Jones did not face these pressures with Japan and last time he did as head coach, health problems ensued.
Wallabies supporters old enough to remember will be smiling gleefully at England’s choice. We remember the beginning of the dark years that came under Jones’ charge. England supporters will be hoping for something different.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.