England keep on winning but Eddie Jones needs to let the genie out of the bottle | Robert Kitson

Dec 08, 2020

There are plenty of reasons why the rugby was less than dazzling but even while securing two trophies the lack of vision is alarming

And so ends perhaps the least auspicious year in professional Test rugby history. You know it has been bad when the northern hemisphere’s champion team are openly jeered on their home turf, when the creative element of their game virtually disappears and when the England coach dismisses any criticism of his team’s style as “childish”. The curse of Covid-19 has, to some extent, been the least of it.

Clearly, there is a risk of conflating two different things. Eddie Jones and England do not draw up or adjudicate the laws that have led the sport down a tactical cul-de-sac. Nor is it Jones’s fault that many of the teams England faced this year, with the notable exception of France, are either fading or in the process of rebuilding. Fifteen wins in their past 17 Tests suggests England are doing something right.

Tags: Autumn Nations Cup Eddie Jones England rugby union team Rugby union Sport