Steady Eddie's evolution has England back on course - Andy Goode
It may be just two wins in the Six Nations but the last fortnight has shown Eddie Jones has learned from his mistakes in 2018 and that is a major factor behind England being talked about as World Cup contenders once more.
They won’t be getting carried away inside the camp and others shouldn’t either as, of course, things could take a turn for the worse again if a run of defeats ensues but Eddie has clearly changed the way he does things and the manner of the performances against Ireland and France prove that.
He’ll never admit to changing but it’s clear for all to see. His whole demeanour has changed, although a large part of that is obviously the positive effect of winning games again. He’s not throwing hand grenades out in the press and looks a lot calmer and more measured.
He has started the mind games with Warren Gatland early by saying that England are going to be facing the best Welsh team ever in Cardiff next weekend but they have just equalled their best ever winning streak and I don’t mind that.
It’s worlds apart from some of his comments during last year’s Six Nations or when he referred to Wales as a “little, shit place”.
A team is a reflection of its coach and we saw with Ben Youngs walking off in the middle of an interview with Sky during the summer that his behaviour did rub off on his players. Things change quickly in sport and that seems like a long time ago now.
It’s too simplistic to suggest that England now look like a very good team again just because Billy and Mako Vunipola and Manu Tuilagi have all played together for the first time but there’s no doubt that it’s been a major influence.
He has a full squad to choose from in general really, apart from Maro Itoje after his injury against Ireland and now Mako. We shouldn’t forget, though, that Ben Te’o would have almost certainly been selected in Dublin if he had have been fully fit so there’s been a bit of luck involved too in stumbling across certain combinations.
It was the same with Mark Wilson in the autumn. He was England’s player of the autumn internationals and has started the Six Nations on fire but he wouldn’t have got a game if it wasn’t for injuries to the likes of Chris Robshaw, James Haskell, Sam Simmonds and others.
Again, Eddie won’t admit that but everyone knows it. You need a bit of luck like that, though, and he can take it and move forwards.
I’ve spoken a lot about his training methods in the past and he’s definitely learned in that respect as the word coming out of the England camp now is that they aren’t being beasted in training like they were last year. There hasn’t been a major injury at an England training session for a while now either after there were a whole host over the course of the past couple of years.
And, he’s also learned that he needs to be less autocratic with John Mitchell appointed in September and Scott Wisemantel, who came in on a temporary basis in the summer, given the job on a more permanent basis recently too.
He was trying to do the job almost all on his own during last year’s Six Nations, especially with regard to England’s attack, and it probably didn’t help in South Africa that we knew Paul Gustard was leaving for Harlequins.
Mitchell and Wisemantel both deserve a lot of credit. Mitchell is a hothead, let’s make no bones about it, but I actually think his presence has helped to calm Eddie Jones down.
Owen Farrell being the captain on his own and being responsible for steering the ship in his own way has helped enormously as well. He’s in a position where he can truly challenge the head coach in a way that Dylan Hartley perhaps couldn’t because nobody is doubting his place in the team.
Hartley will be back in the squad as soon as he’s full recovered from his injury, which I’ve heard might take a bit longer than it was initially expected to, and I’m not denigrating his leadership skills at all but he’s the third choice hooker for me at the moment.
France helped England out quite a bit by picking two centres on the wings and a winger at full back, as well as bringing in Mathieu Bastareaud to play opposite the more mobile Henry Slade, but they got it spot on tactically again on Sunday.
That has to be a combination of good coaching and preparation in the build-up and excellent recognition of what was in front of them by the players on the day but they exploited the acres of space in behind the French backline time and again and most of the tries came from kicks.
It won’t be like that every game for this England team but it does look like they have the tools to play in different ways now and adapt to what the opposition is doing.
Ultimately, you want to win every game but England have come through injury crises, adversity and a period of very poor results and they look like they’ve come out the other side having learned from their mistakes and become a better team.
I don’t buy the theory that last year was all part of a masterplan for England to be in the best place possible come the World Cup – 2018 was everything you shouldn’t do as an international coach but they’re back in the winning habit and momentum is massive in World Cup years.
It’ll sound like I’m an arrogant Englishmen but if we go to Cardiff and win, then the Grand Slam’s ours with home games against Italy and Scotland to come. And, the Wales game is even more pivotal than a Grand Slam decider as well.
It’s England’s one acid test before the World Cup. There are now seven games left until they kick off their tournament but the four warm-up games will be used to try different things, so Cardiff takes on huge significance and you get the feeling they wish they didn’t have to wait until next weekend.
Whatever job you do in life you have to learn from your mistakes and it’s no different as the England Head Coach. If you carry on doing the same things, you’ll carry on getting the same results. Eddie has turned over a new leaf and long may it continue.
Comments on RugbyPass
Exciting 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.
11 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.
3 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?
26 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?
3 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!
3 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.
11 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!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to commentsBulls fan here, and agree 100% with the conclusion (and little else) of this article. SA sides should absolutely f-off from the champs cup until we get fair scheduling, equal support for travel arrangements and home semis. You know, like all the european teams get.
26 Go to comments