How England Got So Unnervingly Competent Under Eddie Jones
Eddie Jones oversaw his eleventh consecutive test victory as England coach at the weekend, despite his side being reduced to 14 men for 76 minutes. For Lee Calvert, long-suffering devotee of the red rose, this feels very weird.
The Autumn Internationals are a pertinent time to reflect on life as an England supporter. A year ago, we were the first host nation to be dumped out of their own Rugby World Cup at the group stage after a string of performances so uninspiring it was like listening to Coldplay at a church fete in the rain. Go back even further to 2009 and under Martin Johnson’s stewardship, England fans had to endure a national team that fielded a backline that contained Paul Hodgson, Dan Hipkiss, Ayoola Erinle and Matt Banahan. It was like Johnson had shopped in the broken produce section at a donkey market.
With these many disappointments seared into my memory, I watch the strangely competent Jones setup operate with the curiosity of a child poking roadkill with a stick; it’s fascinating but somehow looks and feels wrong.
This newfound competence was further tested against the Pumas on Saturday when Elliot Daly had himself sent off for the stupidesst attempt at a mid-air tackle since a small aeroplane took on King Kong. The team had to figure out how to win with one man down for virtually the entire match. It is testament to Jones’s new system that had a viewer tuned in after the red card, they would have struggled to realise England were at such a disadvantage.
Jones has created a gameplan and platform that is extremely malleable. It has already been proven able to respond to personnel changes early in games when players have been hoiked off early by the coach, it has shown it can accommodate all kinds of average in the seven shirt and still win. Now it has proven it can win convincingly with fourteen men. The most impressive thing is that whoever comes into the side, the performance level remains the same or even improves, even with the monumentally average Tom Wood as part of the setup.
[rugbypass-ad-banner id=”1475535264″]
Some will say that this victory was easy given that Argentina have spent November looking like a team more desperate to go home than a drunk at the back of the taxi queue in a blizzard. But this is unfair. Argentina are a quality outfit, and the likes of Isa, Cordero and Landajo to name three could’ve caused significant issues for any team with a gap in defence. Indeed for a period at the beginning of the second half it looked like that was exactly what was about to happen. Yet England regrouped, shut them out again and moreover scored points right to the end. But for a rare bad day from the tee by Owen Farrell, it could have seen a more convincing margin of victory.
Jones’ England will be tested further this weekend as an improved Wallabies side still smarting from the summer humiliation and fuming from the loss to Ireland roll into Twickenham with Michael Cheika’s face looking even more like a smacked arse than usual. The England pack will be without Billy Vunipola – the power carrying lynchpin of Eddie’s attack is reportedly out for four months – and the soon to be suspended Elliot Daly.
Once again we await what the Aussie at the helm of England can mold from the raw elements at his disposal, as England’s surreal victory train rolls on.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments