Culture was a keyword in the Stuart Lancaster era but it will not spend much time on the lips of his successor, Eddie Jones, the Australian who signed a four-year contract at Twickenham on Friday to leave all four of the home union teams in foreign hands.
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He has had notable successes, first with the Brumbies and then as the coach who took Australia to the 2003 World Cup final.
Stuart Lancaster was sacked as England coach after his team became the first host to fail to advance from the pool stage at the recent Rugby World Cup.
“The opportunity to take the reins in possibly the world’s most high-profile worldwide rugby job doesn’t come along every day”, said Jones, who will take up his England post next month. “I have to pick the right staff. I think there are enough good English coach there to pick from, I don’t need to go outside England to do that, generally speaking and that is what we will be aiming to do”.
Former Fylde RFC coach Mark Nelson says young players need to have experience of playing overseas to broaden their rugby experience if England are to catch up with the rest of the world and raise standards. Pumas coach Daniel Hourcade, smiling again after Argentina’s 29-15 World Cup loss to Australia left him in tears, said: “I am proud of my team and their attitude”.
“When I was appointed at Western Province, there was no vacancy within the RFU…” But I have a job to do now to take England forward and develop a few England coaches.
England’s new head coach Eddie Jones will be looking for Richie McCaw-esque qualities as he weighs up who will captain his side in the Six Nations – but whoever is chosen will have to be a unwavering supporter of the credo he will implant within the national side. Jones said in an interview with the website ESPN Scrum. I want players who want to play for England and if you want to play for England you have to play in the Premiership.
At the heart of any side is a captain, Eddie has previously quite heavily criticised Chris Robshaw and openly said that one of his first tasks will be to speak one on one with Chris. “I understand, in terms of the RFU, what they want”.
‘I can’t judge them on what they’ve done before, ‘ said Jones.
“Even at National league club level, when I played at Fylde, Vale of Lune and Lancashire, we played Welsh, Scottish, Irish, French, even South African sides”.
“If they are a little bit outside of it then they must show they are worth having in the team”.
“How can you manage your players when they are controlled by other organisations?” Cheika added: “I’m really proud that we’re both Australian and from the same club, but will be doing battle in a different arena”. We are not going to be all ready when we play Scotland but, if you give the players understanding and prioritise the things you can change quickly, we can put in a good performance. “I won’t be going back to South Africa”.
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Jones, whose first game in charge will be England’s Six Nations opener against Scotland at Murrayfield on February 6, also hit out at the “dour” rugby played in Europe’s leading annual global tournament compared to the southern hemisphere’s Rugby Championship.
