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'You never put it to bed': Eddie Jones on the scar of England's 13-month-old World Cup final loss to the Springboks
Eddie Jones has revisited the nightmare of last year’s World Cup final loss, suggesting that the scar of defeat never gets fully put to bed and explaining how that loss has influenced the England preparation this week for Sunday’s Autumn Nations Cup decider versus France.
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Having eliminated the All Blacks, the defending champions in the World Cup semi-finals, England were hotly tipped to lift the trophy 13 months ago in Yokohama only to have their hopes and dreams crushed by a Springboks side that saved its best performance in the Far East for their final match.
It was the second occasion that Jones was on the losing side in the final, having previously been coach of the Wallabies who were beaten in the 2003 World Cup final, and the pain of losing is never totally erased.
“Probably every day,” he said when asked how often does he think of the 32-12 defeat for England which greatly upset the form book. “When you lose a big final like that it stays with you for a long time.
“It doesn’t go away and you reflect and you think I should have done that, would that have made a difference? And then you consistently hear the criticism of what you have done which drives you a little bit more and you have got to learn from it.
France have selected an XV containing 0️⃣ starters from October 31 win over Ireland and just 1️⃣ starter from November 22 victory against Scotland… but they haven't been entirely written off #AutumnNationsCup #ENGvFRAhttps://t.co/UmOgUKGfTZ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 4, 2020
“If you don’t learn from it you don’t get another opportunity to play in the final. We have a great opportunity this week to show we have learned from the World Cup final and we’re absolutely blessed that within 13 months to be able to have the opportunity to play in a final again.”
Beating France won’t close that World Cup wound, though. “You never put it to bed,” he continued. “The result is what it is. We weren’t good enough in that World Cup final and even if you win the next World Cup it never puts to bed that final, it stays with you.
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“And that is what drives you in wanting to keep on getting better. In any sport, you are in a cycle of success and failure and you know that as soon as you had success, failure is sitting next to you and when you’re in a failure period, you have success sitting next to you. There is always an opportunity there.”
Asked if there was anything he had learned from the build-up to the decider in Yokohama that he has this week tried to fix ahead of England’s latest final, Jones reflected: “What we have noticed as a team is in retrospect we probably didn’t attack the week like we normally do.
“For the World Cup week we were probably more content about getting through the week and this week we have had a real focus about attacking the game, where can we improve the game. It has been a great learning week for us. That has been a bit of a mindset change.
“There are two teams in the final, there is always the favourites and there’s always the underdogs and the favourites usually come into the final on good form and sometimes this is subconscious, it’s not a conscious decision, sometimes you think we’re just going to continue that but in sport, the reality is there is no just continuing.
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“You can miss out a week’s preparation. I don’t know whether that is right for our World Cup final but that is one of the things we are hypothesising and we have had a big attempt this week to attack the week, not sit back to see to where we can improve our game.”
The arrival of Jason Ryles in the England set-up on a full-time basis from NRL has led to plenty of rugby league nuanced conversations #AutumnNationsCup #ENGvFRA
https://t.co/yrRaZBm3yG— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 4, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Bar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
35 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
35 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
35 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
35 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
35 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
35 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
35 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
18 Go to comments