White is the new black – but Eddie Jones will never admit it
Eddie Jones wants England to be the All Blacks. He just doesn’t want you to think he may be emulating the New Zealanders’ recipe for success, writes Scotty Stevenson.
Following England’s stunning Six Nations victory in Cardiff on Saturday, Coach Eddie Jones has claimed his England side is still “seven percent behind the All Blacks” which is based either on some hitherto unknown rugby analysis metric, or simply on Eddie Jones’ penchant for nifty but rather meaningless catchphrases. Considering back in September he also said the All Blacks were only “three percent ahead of the chasing pack” one could reasonably assume it is the latter.
Three percent here, seven percent there. Either Eddie got a calculator for Christmas or his latest remarks are just another way to keep the All Blacks in the conversation ahead of that much anticipated showdown with England in – yawn – 2018. I am ninety-nine percent sure the rest of us just want that game to happen already.
Regardless of where Jones is plucking his percentages from (and we probably all have some ideas on that) what is obvious is that the techniques he has been using with his side mirror those the All Blacks have used for years. Not that he would come out and say that.
In a feature story by regular RugbyPass Podcast guest and ESPN Rugby Editor Tom Hamilton, Jones has credited a training technique known as ‘tactical periodization’ with England’s fast-rising fortunes. Jones says he discovered the technique through football (coaches such as that bastion of humility, Jose Mourinho, are proponents of the theory) but odds are he was actually inspired to research the formula through its implementation in rugby union by the All Blacks coaching staff – especially Wayne Smith.
Smith has long been the guru of the ‘click play’, or the transition offence as it is also known, and the All Blacks have long been devotees of just the kind of thinking Jones espoused this weekend. In fact, the training regime Jones spoke of in the article – not to mention some of the language used, including the term ‘finishers’ rather than ‘substitutions’ – could have been lifted in its entirety from the All Blacks playbook.
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While Jones is open about ‘bridging the gap’ between England and the All Blacks, he has been extremely careful to give the impression the bridge will be built on arches of his own construction, even if the keystones have been already been placed by the team he is so desperate to defeat, and coaches he is so reluctant to credit.
There is good reason for that: Stuart Lancaster, Jones’ predecessor at the helm of the England side, was an unabashed fan of the All Blacks coaching methods and the New Zealand rugby system. Jones saw how Lancaster’s quest to emulate the New Zealanders unravelled under criticism in 2015, and he doesn’t want to make the same mistakes. Moreover, having questioned Lancaster’s approach, he can’t afford to.
In October 2016, Jones offered this thought to the Sunday Times: “The thing that really annoys me in rugby at the moment is that everyone tries to copy New Zealand. Why?” It was his way of saying England will do it their own (his) way, even if that way is the All Blacks way, deftly repackaged to suit a resurgent side high on self-worth and self-determination under a coach who allows both to flourish.
England deserve to be lauded for this run of wins under Jones. They deserve better than to be tagged ‘escape artists’ after taking their chance, and the win, in Cardiff. Jones has created depth and desire, and has also laid the foundations for a new-found belief, articulated beautifully by Dylan Hartley’ assertion after the Welsh test that even with five minutes remaining, and staring down a two-point deficit, this England side still thought they were going to win.
Yes, it’s all wonderful stuff. Problem is, it’s also the kind of stuff we’ve heard before – from that other team Jones wants to beat, the one he would in theory never dream of emulating. Even while in practice, he is doing precisely that.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
26 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
26 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
26 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
26 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
26 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments