Eddie Jones on the 'massive differences' between English, Australian and Japanese players
Eddie Jones is in quite a unique position in the coaching sphere having coached three different international teams, across vastly different cultures.
What makes his position, and insight, even more unique is that his two stints coaching Australia were over 20 years apart, meaning he could see how much an entire institution has progressed, or even regressed.
Few can rival the mix of players and environments Jones has worked with in the game of union across his career so far, and he has picked up on some clear differences between players from different countries.
The Australian recently highlighted the stark differences in work ethic between the English players and Australian players on ex rugby league star James Graham’s The Bye Round Podcast, pinpointing the intensity of their club competitions as a driving force behind that. Moreover, the 63-year-old explained how Australia’s approach had changed between his two stints in charge of the Wallabies, and not in a good way.
“The big thing is how hard they work at their game,” Jones said. “How hard independently they work at their game. There is a massive difference around the world in rugby in that area, massive differences.
“If you’re in an intense competition, you’ve got to keep working at your game hard. That drives a necessity to work hard. And you find there’s big differences in work ethic in players.
“England players, because of the comp they play in – the European comp is pretty hard – they work really hard at their game. And they’re independent in how they work at their game. They don’t need to be told what to do. Then you’ve got someone like Owen Farrell, who’s at his game, he’s at it the whole time. He’s just a driver. So you’ve got that role model there and it tends to flow down. And they’re a really hard working team.
“Australia, when we first started professional rugby, we were the hardest working team in the world because we were able to model ourselves off rugby league and AFL. You look at the success of NRL and AFL, it’s because players work so bloody hard and the standard’s so good. For domestic comps, they’re unbelievable. So we were able to borrow that initially and we were able to win the World Cup in 1999 because of that. We’ve probably tailed off a little bit now, and that’s an area that can improve.
“They just need more initiative to do it themselves. When you’ve got a good team, they’re doing it themselves, you’re not prodding them. In the course of the World Cup, they really improved a lot and I reckon the group of players Australia’s got now will take that forward and I don’t think that will be a problem going forward. When you get comfortable, that’s when you stop working hard.
The three-time Six Nations winner seemingly reserved his most respect and admiration for the Japanese players though, whom he coached between 2012 and 2015.
“Then the Japanese, they’re different mate- they’re different,” he said.
“They’re completely dedicated to their craft, Japanese players. Sometimes you do [have to pull them back a bit]. And I remember going to a session, and you go to a session and the players are slow out and they’re sitting around- you know they’re tired. They’re all body language things. So I said, ‘right boys, we’re not training today,’ and I had players in tears because they wanted to train. So we didn’t train, and the next day we trained at such an intensity, it was incredible. It just reinforced the fact that sometimes you have to pull them back.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Amazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
1 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
1 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
1 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to comments