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Eddie's book will be box office but he shouldn't have been allowed to publish it - Andy Goode
Eddie Jones’ book is released today and, while there’s no doubt it’ll make for interesting reading, how it’s been allowed to be published is beyond me.
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I’m sure players have it written into their EPS agreements that they aren’t allowed to write a book for a certain period of time after their last game for England and they even have to get permission to write a column, for example, but the current head coach is allowed to write a book with details from the 2019 World Cup campaign in it.
It’s very different for Warren Gatland, who has just come to the end of a 12-year spell in charge of Wales. Jones is still very much the head coach, has a contract for another two years and is possibly staying on until the next World Cup.
It’s a sign of the complete autonomy that he seems to have, which is perhaps a product of him taking over at a time when England were at their lowest ebb after exiting their home World Cup at the pool stage.
He’s just led them to the final in the next one so most people won’t complain too much about him writing a book but it does have the potential to destabilise the squad.
He admits in the book that he “made two selection mistakes for the final” and it might be difficult to disagree with that with the benefit of hindsight but it’s easy to be wise after the fact and what impact will voicing that opinion have?
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“I should have chosen Joe Marler ahead of Mako Vunipola at loose-head prop and I should have reverted to the Owen Farrell–Manu Tuilagi–Henry Slade midfield we used against Australia. George Ford could have come off the bench when we had got into the game,” he adds.
Mako Vunipola and George Ford aren’t going to say anything publicly because they want to carry on playing for England but I’d feel pretty dejected if I was them and heard my current coach saying that about me.
It’s not a massive leap to interpret those words as Eddie Jones saying we’d have won the World Cup if he hadn’t started with Vunipola and Ford. That absolutely isn’t the case. I think we’d have lost that final with any team because of the way South Africa played on the day.
A lot of players came out and made comments in the wake of the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, which didn’t go too well for England, and the players are being censored to an extent as a result.
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It doesn’t sit well with me that a player can’t say what he wants but a coach can write a book and say whatever he wants.
Jones has also voiced concerns that some Saracens players may want to play for their club rather than their country in the wake of the salary cap scandal and that it could cause friction in the England camp if they are there.
I can’t see it causing a rift in the squad. There’ll be banter flying around but I don’t think it’ll upset the applecart. You don’t have to like everyone you play alongside and I just can’t see any players from other clubs having any grievance with those from Saracens.
As for the conjecture that some Saracens players may choose to play for their club rather than join up with England, I don’t think that would be allowed and if it were to happen, I don’t think they should be able to play for England again.
I don’t think it’ll be the case because of what it means to play for your country, and of course the not insignificant financial incentive on top, but it obviously can’t be allowed to happen.
If a Saracens player did take that point of view and was allowed to, Leicester would be wanting Manu Tuilagi and co to play for them instead of England, Bath might feel they need Anthony Watson back and Joe Launchbury might be needed by Wasps, for example.
The last time Saracens would have been relegated with a 35-point deduction applied is over a decade ago in 2008/09 as well, so it shouldn’t even be necessary.
Eddie Jones obviously has strong links to Saracens too, having been head coach there around a decade ago, so there would be questions raised about his integrity as well.
There would be uproar across the Premiership, it would devalue the Six Nations and Saracens would also lose some of the financial compensation they get for having players away on international duty as well, which they can ill afford. I’d be shocked if it were to come to pass.
I applaud Eddie’s honesty and I also completely understand his desire to make some money by writing a book so I don’t blame him too much, even if some of the content might have the potential to rock the boat, but I just can’t believe he’s been allowed to publish it.
I think the RFU have made a mistake in signing off on it and there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and the Six Nations but it’ll be fascinating to see if there is any impact from any of this on the pitch or in the corridors of Pennyhill Park.
Comments on RugbyPass
Jake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
35 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
35 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
9 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
35 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
9 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
9 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
11 Go to comments