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RFU boss addresses speculation around Eddie Jones' future

By PA
Eddie Jones and Billy Vunipola

Eddie Jones has been backed to lead England at next year’s World Cup after the Rugby Football Union insisted “Eddie is the guy to take us there”.

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The Australian has a contract until the end of the 2023 tournament in France and eased mounting pressure on his position by masterminding this month’s 2-1 tour victory over his native country.

RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney said Jones’ impressive record against major southern hemisphere nations – 20 wins from 25 – was central to the national governing body keeping faith.

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Eddie Jones explains the Danny Care substitute was completely tactical

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Eddie Jones explains the Danny Care substitute was completely tactical

He also conceded that evolving England require improvement in a number of areas in order to be competitive during Test rugby’s showpiece competition.

“We’d expect him to go through to ’23,” Sweeney said of Jones. “It is tough at the highest level of sport. There is so much scrutiny and reasonable scrutiny.

“I think it is important sometimes not to over-react but it is also equally important not to under-react.

“We don’t just have a review after every major tournament, we have an ongoing review process. We will clearly be doing that with Eddie and the coaches when they come back, they are due back at the end of the month.

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“We have been looking for signs of ‘are we on track?’, ‘do we still believe in the direction we’re going in?’ and ‘do we have the confidence (in Jones)?’ and we’ve said we do.

“We are not blind to some of the areas that need to be addressed. We’ve got to improve a lot to be competitive.

“The challenge for us is to improve at the rate we think is good enough to be fully competitive in 2023. And we do believe Eddie is the guy to take us there.”

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Jones guided England to the final of the 2019 World Cup in Japan – where they were beaten by South Africa – but his position has since come under increased scrutiny on the back of two dismal Six Nations campaigns.

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Victory in Australia, which was not entirely convincing but secured in the absence of a host of key men, has at least placated some of the 62-year-old’s detractors.

“One of the reasons we feel very confident around decisions and around conversations regarding Eddie is his win ratio, particularly in the southern hemisphere,” continued Sweeney.

“I think that’s now 25 games against tier one southern hemisphere teams and 20 of those won, so it’s an 80 per cent win ratio. If you add in the other southern hemisphere teams, it goes up to about 82 per cent win ratio.

“And, if you’re going to do well in a World Cup, you’re going to have to go across a run and beat at least three, maybe even four, southern hemisphere teams.

“We feel that’s an advantage and that’s something we’ve got with him that we rank pretty highly.”

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Sweeney missed the victorious series Down Under after suffering a pulmonary embolism.

The CEO insisted he has completely recovered from the recent health scare.

“I’m fully fit now, back to it,” he said. “I had a six-day stint in hospital, came out, I’ve been back at work eight weeks, been back in the gym virtually every day for about the last six weeks so hopefully one more scan to go and back to normality.

“The doctors wouldn’t let me fly, unfortunately, down to Australia.”

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Adrian 1 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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Trevor 4 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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Bull Shark 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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