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'A lot of positive things in the game': Eddie Jones' bizarre take on England's latest bruising loss
Under-fire England boss Eddie Jones came out fighting after his team’s latest bruising 2021 Guinness Six Nations defeat, claiming there were multiple good things evident in their performance in Dublin and that his players are still fully listening to his instructions.
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England fell to an insipid 32-18 defeat in Dublin, trailing 20-6 at the interval and only coming back into it with late tries following the 64th-minute red carding of Ireland midfielder Bundee Aki.
It was England’s third loss in their five-match campaign and it saw them drop to fifth on the table, their worst finish since 2018. Jones, though, was adamant that it had not been all doom and gloom for his team at Aviva Stadium and that this latest defeat was no evidence that he had lost his ability to motivate his players.
“A lot of positive things in the game,” he insisted in the aftermath. “It was a difficult game for us, but we still know where we are going. As disappointed as I am with the result, we still know where we are going and we will continue in a positive fashion.
“Most definitely,” he added when asked if the players were fully supportive of what he is trying to do with a team that reached the 2019 World Cup final and lifted Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup titles in 2002. “I don’t think that is the issue. If it was the issue I wouldn’t be coaching the team.”
Sit back and enjoy, @IrishRugby fans! ??
Here are the highlights from their 32-18 win over England at the Aviva Stadium. #GuinnessSixNations #IREvENG pic.twitter.com/AIeD03M8DI
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 20, 2021
Reflecting on the game in Dublin where England went 3-0 ahead and were then held up short for a try before losing their way, Jones continued: “It’s a difficult one. We thought we started well, the first 20 minutes was a bit of nip and tuck and then a couple of things went against us and we allowed that to get to us.
“We dropped our intensity off and Ireland took advantage and established a winning lead. Tribute to my team that they are honest, they work hard, they came back in the game, fought hard when things were difficult. We congratulate Ireland. They were too good for us on the day.
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“The main thing we are missing at the moment is consistency in performance. We showed against France we can play at a very high level and we have just lost that consistency which sometimes happens to a team and we are experiencing that now but we will get that back.
“It’s just our consistency to apply pressure. We started the game well, we knew what we had to do. It was a different sort of game to the French game which had a lot of ball movement, a lot of space.
“This was always going to be one of those tight, attritional games. We started well and then we let a few things disappoint us and it allowed Ireland to get on the front foot… look, we need to assess where we are going. We are going through a transition period in the team and this is almost the natural time for that to happen, two years before a World Cup.
“We thought they [Ireland] would come pretty hard through the front door. Given the previous results between the teams we knew that they wanted to settle the physical stakes particularly and we thought they would come hard, we thought they would kick a lot which they did and they did it very well. They did their tactics right, the scoreboard indicates that.”
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Quizzed on whether there was a disconnect currently between this England team and its fanbase, especially in the wake of Jones’ ‘rat poison’ comment aired towards the media on Thursday, the coach replied: “I don’t think that is the case, mate, I don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t know mate. I can’t comment.”
Not so long ago, Jones was vocal about wanting 20 of his players chosen for the upcoming Lions tour. What about that boast now? “I’m not sure mate, I’m not in control of that.”
There are now huge questions about the credibility of this England team and the over-reliance of Eddie Jones on a plethora of his favourite players who haven’t been putting it in #SixNations #IREvENGhttps://t.co/Q3pSQpGijV
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 20, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
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