Eddie Jones gives 'mate over a beer' reason for Steve Hansen invite
Eddie Jones has likened the presence of New Zealand’s Rugby World Cup-winning coach Steve Hansen in the Wallabies camp as more like a chat with a mate over a beer rather than talking team tactics. The Kiwis were rocked to hear that Hansen was in enemy territory ahead of next month’s tournament in France, with their prime minister Chris Hipkins joking they should cancel his citizenship.
Veteran hooker Dane Coles said he was go-smacked and admitted it “hurt a bit” to see his former coach involved with their arch-rivals. Jones said he had called on his long-time coaching rival and good friend to get a fresh perspective on the Wallabies, who open their World Cup against Georgia on Saturday, September 9.
“I have coached against Steve since 1998 so we have got a long relationship, enjoy each other’s company and I always had the thought we wanted this week to be a reset week for us,” Jones told reporters from France on Tuesday night.
“We have been through the Rugby Championship, done our Australian responsibilities and now it is a rest, so we have brought in Steve to have a look at what we are doing. It’s purely like a mate having a beer (asking), ‘What do you think? Where can we improve’?”
Asked what Hansen was looking at, Jones replied: “There is two main areas: there is training quality, which is our way of improving, and leadership of the team. So Steve is having a look at both of those areas.
“Every time he speaks there is some wisdom in what he says – when he says something, we are listening to him and how we can improve what we are doing, we are looking to see if we can use his advice to do that.”
While it caused shockwaves across the Tasman Jones said his players welcomed someone of Hansen’s calibre, who boasts the most wins of any All Blacks coach. “They like good people coming into camp, they want to get better and they can see the value of Steve,” Jones said.
“If you just look at his Test record, I think he has coached 200 Tests; for the All Blacks he won I think 87 per cent. So they like good people coming into camp and he is a good person, so the reaction has been really positive.”
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments