What Jones, 55, was not prepared to do on the day he was unveiled by RFU bigwigs Ian Ritchie and Bill Beaumont, was to kill off the careers of any existing player or coach. “We don’t know what I’m going to be”.
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“Those stories about Richie McCaw are true”. Scrapping that rule would be one of the first changes i’d make. You don’t want to take that away.
England are more than capable of being the best team in Europe, and they will have a chance to prove that in February when the Six Nations begins, but until they start playing faster, smarter rugby, they will struggle to match worldwide rugby’s elite. “Leadership is something you have to develop”.
“There is great talent here and the desire is to produce a winning rugby team that gets Twickenham buzzing”, said Jones, whose England side meet Gatland’s Wales in the Six Nations on March 12. “He’s probably likely to be a very good No6 for England going forwards”.
One of the first things I have to do is sit down with Chris and chat to him. “Now, that would be sensitive”.
“I will be 59 by the next World Cup and I will be watching cricket in Barbados”.
“Every side is different”.
‘Everyone wants to have their own nationality as a head coach, I understand that.
Already Jones is planning to invite his England players to turn up to their first training session wearing their club kit to emphasise that nothing useful will be achieved unless they share the same common goal. I also think it would be a huge mistake to bin Robshaw as captain, though he is yet to decide on that, and has apparently been in talks him. “I can do that”.
Woodward guided England to the 2003 World Cup win and he has been recently linked with a Director of Rugby role at the RFU. Players at that tournament like Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury, Billy Vunipola, Ben Youngs, George Ford, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson are set be stalwarts in England’s team for years to come, while there is plenty of other young talent coming through, namely the likes of Jamie George, Maro Itoje and Henry Slade, all of whom look capable of reaching the very top.
But yesterday he said: ‘I was a newspaper columnist – I was being a bit naughty. “It will be up to the players to adapt to that and if they don’t adapt then they won’t be in the team”. If they don’t offer that then I’ll look at other options.
Jones’ long-time association with Japan meant he knew exactly what needed to be done to get the team ready for a World Cup and the camps were not for the feint-hearted.
“I see that as a fundamental part of my job. Also, I’m happy with what we’ve got”.
“Eddie Jones” career ticks the critical “international experience” box well and en route to this point his coaching experiences have seen him cross cultures and countries.
The two eventually patched things up and when Hirose was no longer assured of a place in the squad, Jones showed the fiercely loyal side of his character by taking the Toshiba player to the Rugby World Cup on the grounds he was an invaluable member of the squad off the field in terms of his leadership role.
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“Sometimes when you have a competition like that, you lose your love for the game”, Jones said. Before Japan played Scotland you will remember that he observed that Scotland were a first-half team who rarely scored tries after the interval. Players are quite resilient.
