IN some people’s eyes, Eddie Jones has gone from being one of rugby’s super-coaches to completely losing his Midas touch.
What rubbish! Is the Aussie still the right man for England? Absolutely. Is he going through a bad patch? Of course he is. Can he sort it out? Absolutely.
Every side except the All Blacks — who last lost three in a row in 1998 — goes through these runs.
England have no excuses, though. All the ingredients for success are there on a plate thanks to being bankrolled by the RFU’s riches.
The team behind the team is huge and the facilities at Pennyhill Park are world class.
So Jones knows he has under-achieved in this year’s Six Nations.
A true test of any team, coach or player is the way they respond.
We’ve yet to see that and it doesn’t get any easier with the next three Tests against South Africa in June and then New Zealand at Twickenham this autumn.
EDS WILL ROLL Eddie Jones warns England flops their international careers might be over
England need to fix things — from the breakdown and parts of the attack. But quick fixes are no use.
As a group, I’m sure they will still talk about winning the World Cup as that remains the ultimate goal.
The doubters will say they look a bit silly saying that after finishing fifth in the Six Nations and losing three on the spin.
Losing runs test personalities and the backroom staff will be looking out for anyone whose focus drops.
There is going to be so much noise out there from now until England play again.
People will be forensically pulling apart the team, doubting what they have done and where they are going.
As players you need to block that out and grow a thicker skin than ever before.
Only they know what has been done in training and what has been said in all those hours of meetings.
latest rugby news
Eddie will be stressing the need for a shared mental mindset and to keep tight as a group. Do all that and stay together, then they will be OK.
You must be brutally honest and which player can say they hit the level that was expected of them?
Every one bar just a few will surely be feeling the heat.
I reckon the only people safe are Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Anthony Watson, Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler.
Responsibility goes straight back on to the players. Jones will want guys fit and firing to rip into the Springboks.
And they all know time is starting to run out for them to prove that they are good enough for a World Cup shot.
There will be guys to come back into con- tention to face South Africa this summer.
Billy Vunipola, Ben Youngs, Sam Underhill, Zach Mercer have missed out on all or some of this campaign due to injuries.
After having a look at others as injury cover, the coaches need to decide if they can be Test-match animals — or if it is time to move on.
Leave a comment