England coach Eddie Jones will face the British media on Monday night when he names the squad to tour Australia, and he’s sure to face more prickly questioning after a humbling farewell defeat to the Barbarians.
The invitational side, coached by France’s Fabien Galthie, were down to 14 men in the first half as Aussie Will Skelton received a red card, yet took apart Jones’ inexperienced team 52-21.
Jones, of course, played down the significance of the result, leaning heavily into the option that it was a meaningless exhibition.
But with injuries to Alex Dombrandt and George Ford casting a pall over proceedings, the English media wasn’t sharing Jones’ relaxed view of the one-sided clash.
“Chastening, humbling, humiliating. Pick your adjective. England’s defeat by the Barbarians, who played with 14 men for just over 50 minutes and yet still passed a half-century of points, was jarring stuff,” wrote Charlie Morgan in the UK Telegraph.
Jones dismissed the notion that the BaaBaas game would have a bearing on the Down Under tour, and his team was without stars from Leicester or Saracens who were involved in the Premiership final.
(Photo by Bob Bradford – CameraSport via Getty Images)
But, wrote Morgan, “Australia should feel confident of exacting revenge for their 2016 whitewash defeat. “
He argued there were three main areas of concern for England – an over-reliance on Marcus Smith in attack, a lack of muscle across the team and set piece woes.
“England’s attack desperately needs more dimensions, greater dynamism and sharper accuracy because Dave Rennie’s Wallabies will squeeze them in the kicking exchanges, with wily Brumbies scrum-half Nic White to the fore, and go after the breakdown,” Morgan wrote.
.Morgan’s Telegraph colleague Daniel Schofield said a cheeky backheeled conversion from the Baa Baas’ retiring Englishman George Kruis, at a time when England were already “deep within humiliation territory” must have had Jones squirming in his seat in the midst of his heaviest defeat as England head coach.
“Kruis has been a magnificent servant to English rugby and fully deserved this type of send-off in his final match, but for an England team of any description to have the mickey taken out of them like this is close to unacceptable,” he added.
Jones bristled at questions about the result afterwards and said it was “great preparation” for the tour.
“I can’t sway fans, all I can do is coach the team,” he said.
“I’m not pleased with how we performed. I’m pleased with the intent of what we tried to do and it’s great preparation for Australia, but I’m obviously not happy with the result. We’re not going to Australia to get beaten by 50 and run the ball from our own 22, but we have a style of play we want to keep developing and we’ll pick and choose when we use it.
“We’ve got a number of good young players coming through, there’s potential for the team to get better. We used today for a particular purpose.
“It’s a festival game. It’s supposed to be fun for the crowd. We had 55,000 here. Now we don’t like to get beaten by 50, don’t get me wrong, but they were here to have fun. We’ve seen that before with Barbarians teams. I think it’s great, the spirit of rugby. I love it.”
Will Kelleher, writing in The Times, made mention of the work of Aussie former NRL coach Anthony Seibold, who is Jones’ defence coach.
“If Anthony Seibold’s England defence was leaky, Martin Gleeson’s attack was perhaps even worse, with countless opportunities wasted. Marcus Smith also missed all his conversion attempts … England were miles off the pace,” he wrote.
“On Friday, Jones made it clear that this is not an England team, but an “England XV” — but no matter what billing they are given, those in red were desperately poor throughout.”
Gerard Meagher, writing in the Guardian, said: “For all the players absent, for all the excuses that could be made, this was without question a chastening afternoon for Jones, the biggest margin of defeat under his tenure and a humiliating one for England that raises huge concerns over the forthcoming tour of Australia.”
England were, he said, “woeful. They simply could not get going in attack, were lacklustre in defence and their set piece needs plenty of work.
“It was, in short, a disastrous day for Jones and perhaps the most worrying aspect is how they capitulated in the closing stages, conceding four tries in the final 15 minutes.
“It was not a fixture granted Test status but this defeat comes on the back of Six Nations defeats by Ireland and France and makes a three‑Test series against the improving Wallabies all the more ominous.
“Jones names his squad for the tour of Australia on Monday morning and all that could be said of this showing on Sunday is that a number of this side may have played their way off the plane.”
Paulo
Roar Rookie
It’s a tough gig. He can only pick who he has available. If he smashes the baas baas, it means nothing. If he gets smashed (like he did), it’s the end of the world. Even if it’s a tight win, he’d have gotten smashed in the press. Interesting though, I wonder how an NZ XV would have gone playing on Sunday without any Crusaders or Blues? I get England have far more players than NZ but there are still only so many at the top level.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
I know there are millions of England fans hope you're right. We know how well he can coach. I'm just not sure 6 years at the helm is good for him or the coached. He's entered unchartered territory and I think it's showing
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
I'm not sure. I think Galthié enjoyed the opportunity to climb just a little further into Eddie's head. France is now a better side than England and everybody knows it. This was just another reminder of the fact ahead of their home WC
Adam (Though An Imposter)
Roar Rookie
As much as I like to see Eddie Jones get a pasting (while not coaching an Australian team), I have to agree that this doesn't mean that much. Having said that, I recently watched The Brighton Miracle and it was very good. Highly recommended.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately, Eddie Jones 2019 WC plan was a failure, due to being solely focused on defeating NZ. And having the match against NZ be a semi-final, and not the grand final was his downfall. England seemed to have played their "final" a week too early, and were quite mediocre and bereft of ideas when playing SA.
Adam (Though An Imposter)
Roar Rookie
Nienaber
Tim J
Roar Rookie
The Crusaders should have been the Barbarians team, now that would put the chills up Jones more than any English winter. :laughing:
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
I know , I know . Just being mischievous.. but it does of course raise the question of was it really necessary for World Rugby to add an entire page to the already over bloated Law Book just because of one person .
Tim J
Roar Rookie
Hooper especially looks the real deal, he has versatility and reads the game better than most in his position, Frost also I agree with but I would like to see another season from him. I am surprised about Arnold and how he has regressed, he should normally be a certain starter but this season he has just not been at the required level.
Bodger
Roar Rookie
Smith has a lot of domestic experience for his age and Farrell will help at 12 but in two weeks he will need to be running the team so him getting a run was probably the most important thing for England yesterday. Eddie wasn't giving anything away yesterday. I'm really looking forward to seeing Cooper and Kerevi up against England. It was a let down when they couldn't tour last year. Cooper ran the team superbly and Kerevi just constantly got over the gain line and looked faster and fitter than ever. It's going to be a good series. England are a very experienced team and Eddie will bring a game plan he thinks will win rather than entertain.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
As you may know Eddie Jones has almost cult status here in South Africa. After assisting the Boks to a WC win 2007 his lot was secured . Then of course that respect further enhanced by engineering Japans famous win over the Boks in 2015 and if things couldn’t get better they did when he did the Boks a massive favor by eliminating NZ in 2019 . I’m one of his admirers and simply cannot believe he has suddenly lost the plot . He is hatching a wicked plan here of that I’m convinced and if I’m right we will only see the pieces come together next year .
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
I think you're right. He picked the best available and they were walloped. There is cavalry to come in and they'll be better but this match wasn't a joke and the result matters
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
The weird thing is that this is almost right. Eddie, the arch planner, seems devoid of ideas.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Waterboys have always delivered messages on the field. Usually, it's relayed from a coach. Only once has the process worked differently
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Trevor Hosea being out injured all year was a huge disappointment as was the tail off in form of Blyth and the non-selection of LSL. Hooper and Frost at the Brums look outstanding prospects and I really like everything I have seen from Jeremy Williams at the Tahs (the caveat there being that Coleman wasn't picking him so I assume he isn't yet as good as I think). I agree there is talent coming through but young blokes disappear when their improvement stops and they never get to be the player we hoped. Right now, with Rodda hurt and Arnold/Skelton out of the equation, we lack world-class quality for the England series. I hope it doesn't bite us
Bodger
Roar Rookie
A proper tune up game to get the rust out would certainly be an advantage. England now need to travel and be ready in two weeks for the first test. If all the players were available I think Eddy would have picked the strongest team he could.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
I agree ozinsa, but in the next 2 or 3 years you will have World class locks. Yes I have called it! Last season I said after the Bledisloe that Australia are rising while many did not take me seriously. This season I predicted the Tahs to make the top two in Aussie, again many thought know wonder I call myself mad. Your locks are coming on, just a little patience is required. :thumbup:
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
They picked the best available England side given a number played the day before and another group was injured. This wasn't throwing darts at a wall. It was the best available
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
It's early days for Amazon and rugby. I like that they are trying different things re camera angles etc. I agree lots didn't work but it's an attempt to do something different which hasn't happened in a while. I really like Dylan Hartley as an analyst, surprisingly
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
I see why but respectfully disagree. If they'd racked up 50 points and found a new way to play rugby, Eddie would be a genius and the Wallabies would be quaking in their boots. Why do they get a free pass? They were poor and there were players who looked out of their depth. This match told a story, just not one the RFU wants to contemplate