The 76-year-old, who coached the brilliant Australia team of 1984, will pit his old-style attacking wits against the current Wallabies team on SaturdayRare is the coach who not only wins but talks a world-class game, too. Eddie Jones is the modern prototype but three decades ago there was another Australian guru named Jones with an even sharper tongue. Alan Jones was in charge of the 1984 grand slam-winning Wallabies, one of the finest teams to tour these islands, and makes today’s front men sound like quiet suburban accountants.Not so long ago Jones suggested the best thing Australia’s then coach, Robbie Deans, could do to assist the national side was to shut up and stay at home in bed. He has...
Eddie Jones is looking for young players to force their way into his England team and Tom Curry impressed, as did the abrasive Ellis GengeConsidering that Eddie Jones has admitted to feeling “filthy” for more than a month after England’s defeat by Ireland, this stilted if spirited victory can at least be viewed as the start of the cleansing process.It was not the grand unveiling to the second phase of his master plan – eight uncapped starters and a feisty Barbarians side made sure it was never going to be – but winning is an addictive habit for Jones and he will care little that there was barely a sparkle in an exhibition match that tends to offer the promise...
England have put their World Cup travails firmly behind them, Australia have a mountain to climb and Wales coach Rob Howley faces some tough decisions It is remarkable how quickly sporting fortunes can swing. A year ago, England were failing to escape their World Cup pool on home soil while South Africa were just two semi-final points away from reaching the final. Twelve months on, the Springbok team is a very different, more vulnerable animal. The simultaneous loss of several long-time stalwarts has coincided with a continuing player exodus to Europe and Japan, while the politics of transformation further complicate Allister Coetzee’s task. The Boks should overcome Italy this weekend but, longer-term, the outlook looks highly uncertain. England, on the...