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.
Ken
Guest
Bollocks.. So Eddie moulded that 2007 REDS team into title winners in 2011?? Absolute Rubbish !! He didn`t want to put the hard yards in with a young team ..After running into JAKE WHITE at that 97 /3 slaughter in PRETORIA Eddie asked if he could be SPRINGBOKS asssitant coach for the 2007 RWC.. He is a massive quitter a coatail rider and Ben Darwin is another fanboy !!
Not Bothered
Guest
Nonsense.
Not Bothered
Guest
I think 20 of Japans 31 were born in Japan and I think about 21 of Australias were born in Aus.
cuw
Guest
10 expats and 21 Japanese in that squad. dont think it was the worst.... NZ Wales Scotland Italy France England Australia all have players not born in their own country maybe Pumas have all Argies in their team :)
Not Bothered
Guest
Which would be a pathetic display by the players.
Not Bothered
Guest
People dont forget that because its absolute bol1ocks. 16 of the 23 were Japanese. 7 were from overseas. Dont blatently make up sh/t.
cuw
Guest
GUYS, u shud read this article by former wallaby prop BEN DARWIN. :) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-3328706/Eddie-Jones-scare-ll-curse-inside-track-England-s-new-head-coach.html
superba
Guest
And under EJ the Queensland Reds lost to the Bulls 92-3.
Simoc
Guest
Jones will have to have improved a lot as a coach. I thought the Wallabies were at the worst under him, playing structured boring football for the most part.The same game as England play now so he'll fit in ok.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Exactly what I've been thinking Peter. For a start he's immediately up against it when he faces three Kiwi coaches in the 6N all exiting to SH sides, England's loss to Wales at home a big setback for the side. I agree with your best long term bet and with a largely young side I think he could probably focus more on player development, gameplan, skill levels within the current group, going outside the squad later when players don't respond to the new requirements. I do think he needs a new Captain to change the culture of the side, Robshaw just not inspirational enough as a leader by either example or in voice. At least that's my take from what I've seen.
Jibba Jabba
Roar Guru
So whats changed ?
taylorman
Roar Guru
Yeah very good points. One thing with coaches is unlike leopards coaches do change their spots. That's because they learn from their experiences and get better...provided they get reasonable chances to redeem themselves. Hansen isn't defined by his Welsh efforts, Henry by the loss in 07 and there are many examples of coaches going on to greater things after a fall. Eddie is in the perfect position to bring the learnings from his past to the table...the near loss in 03, the win in 07 as assistant, the Japan experience. For England he brings a wealth of overseas experience that simply doesn't exist within England's coaching setup. They're so encamped in thinking their own rugby is good enough...after all..they're England! Eddie needs to enlist outside assistance as well, because the last thing he wants is for the internal establishment telling him what went wrong, where the changes need to be made. Wayne Smith would have been dead perfect but apparently not to be, but some simple stats analysis would clearly point out where England is going wrong, and where they need to be.
Peter Robinson
Roar Rookie
I will be very interested to see how this pans out. Tactically, he is very astute so he may turn England's results around in reasonably quick time. Long term, I'm not so sure. It will be interesting to see how English players react to his leadership style. Typically, if they have a period of good results everything will be rosy, but if they have some adverse results then all the backstabbing and rumors will start, with emphasis on his way of doing things. I will also be interested to see which direction he takes. Does he come up with a game plan to suit the English style of play, or does he start selecting guys that are more athletic and having better ball skills rather than the outright typically strong gym-rat type England seem to produce in abundance. Probably his best long term bet is start with the former and gradually introduce more and more players with more complete ball skills.
Jerry
Guest
I don't see that as that big of an achievement. The side he inherited beat NZ 2-0 handily. After a year in charge they retained 1-1 by the skin of their teeth with a late penalty. A year later, they lost 2-0. The RWC performance was an achievement, the Bledisloe performance not so much.
Homer
Guest
Well said. All fair points. To have any chance of being contenders in 2019 though, England must now start winning the 6N. Given their talent pool compared to the other5N, this is a low bar to get over.
Bakkies
Guest
Outside of the RWC, they played the opposite of what you're describing.
Bakkies
Guest
He inherited a pile of dung heap and took them to rock bottom which is where they needed to go as a wake up call.
Bakkies
Guest
and retained the Bledisloe in 2002.
Bunratty c
Roar Rookie
Please remind us again of his record with the Reds. Did they win a game in that eventful year?
Bunratty c
Roar Rookie
Apologies Mark! My bad! :(