The England and Wales head coaches, who share a huge amount of success and respect for each other, are likely to provide much entertainmentEddie Jones and Warren Gatland are going to have some fun next week. So far we’ve heard them both desperately vying to be the underdog – it’s the only time coaches ever compliment each other – but when we get into Test week we’ll see a few grenades launched from each side of the border.Personally, I love it. It’s two coaches who have huge respect for each other casually flirting in public. It’s hollow – because what they are saying publicly and what they are saying privately are two completely different things – but it’s great entertainment....
Injuries muddy the selection waters for Ireland game as Eddie Jones looks to resolve questions over England’s best teamWhat had been looking like the toughest selection of Eddie Jones’s three-year England tenure has once again been hijacked by events. The unavailability of Ben Te’o for the opening Six Nations Test has not merely blown a sizeable hole in the coach’s midfield strategy but dispelled any notion that, at last, England have uncovered the secret of keeping their best players fit.With Brad Shields and Joe Cokanasiga also unavailable to feature, the first England team announcement of the calendar year on Thursday is no longer quite as hard to predict as it might have been. That said, Jones still has some major...
Looking for a successor could be a distraction in World Cup year but waiting could mean the talent is snaffled up and Wales and Ireland have already made their moveThe start of the World Cup is nine months away but countries are already thinking about their next coach. Wales are sorted, appointing Wayne Pivac in the summer knowing Warren Gatland would be off after his side’s final match in Japan, as are Ireland, with Andy Farrell to take over from Joe Schmidt.In New Zealand, Steve Hansen is due to announce this evening UK time as to whether he will seek a new contract after the World Cup. Rassie Erasmus has told South Africa he will not be carrying on after...
It felt like this match was coming 12 months too late but after a brave display it is like England’s coach is starting afreshThe rain came 30 minutes before kick‑off but the storm broke only when the match started, the first collision the opening crack of thunder. It blew for two hours until, in the very end, England lost a brilliantly entertaining, brutally competitive game, 16-15. They had pushed the best team in the world right to the brink. Back in 2016, Eddie Jones promised that “everything we are doing now is about coming up with a game to beat New Zealand, to make them uncomfortable. You can and hopefully will see that by 2018.” Two years later, England were...
Eddie Jones may ration Dylan Hartley’s England appearances but when the hooker plays the key decisions will be hisWill co-captains lead to co-ckups? Eddie Jones was asked the question – though not in so many words – after announcing that Dylan Hartley and Owen Farrell will be England’s joint leaders until the end of the side’s involvement in the World Cup next year.Co-captains have become common in recent seasons: Jones put Chris Robshaw and George Ford in charge last year when England played the Barbarians at Twickenham but neither was considered a potential successor to Hartley, which made it easier for Jones to follow a path he has been reluctant to take. Related: New rugby union season makes Lions an...