The England coach’s choice of captain remains controversial but, as Sam Warburton and Gareth Edwards have proved, great leadership is about much more than what happens on the pitchA captain leads but is not always a leading player. Eddie Jones attracted scorn when he suggested some players were poor at club level but outstanding on the international field and vice versa, but history suggests he had a point.Jones was explaining why he intended to retain Dylan Hartley as his captain despite the hooker’s lack of form for Northampton and the perceived greater individual qualities offered by Saracens’ Jamie George. If his choice of language was suspect – anyone who was a poor club player would not stay in the first...
The England coach will have the World Cup in mind as he chases a third straight Six Nations title and his selections of Dylan Hartley and James Haskell reflect his belief in leadership and experienceBefore Eddie Jones’s England players returned to their clubs after the final autumn international, against Samoa on 25 November, the head coach said he expected them in the following eight weeks to show their desire to be part of a World Cup-winning team in 2019 by producing world-class form. However, few of the 31 who gathered in Brighton at the start of last week for a training camp before the Six Nations have stood out in the seven rounds of league and European matches since then,...
Finding a successor to the World Rugby Coach of the Year in 2019 is already concentrating minds at Twickenham and the search may lead to the PremiershipThe choice of Eddie Jones as World Rugby Coach of the Year was hardly the most startling news ever to emerge from Monte Carlo. Like a race leader at the Monaco Grand Prix, opportunities to overtake his England side have been few this calendar year, with only Ireland doing so back in March. England still lifted the Six Nations title for the second successive year and under Jones have won 22 of their 23 games. Related: Eddie Jones gives chaos a whirl to keep England on their toes for autumn Tests Related: Scotland flowering...
England coach’s pre-match charm offensive towards referee Ben O’Keeffe looks a canny move after five tight decisions against Australia favour his sideAn hour after the match, Eddie Jones snapped. Four questions into his press conference, Jones was asked how he felt about the marginal calls made by the referee, Ben O’Keeffe, and whether he felt England had been lucky to get the better of them. It was a fair question, but it set off Jones’s hair-trigger temper. “Why do we have a referee? Why do we have TMOs? I don’t understand the question,” Jones said. “How were we lucky? Ten replays of the video and they make a decision. This is the best referee in the world for today, they...
Eddie Jones will delight in the way England rode their luck to scramble a win against Australia from the chaos at their intimidating, unforgiving homeThe RFU is spending £50m rebuilding the eastern half of Twickenham. It is putting up a new rooftop rose garden, restaurant and music stage to make the old cabbage patch more welcoming. England, and Eddie Jones, of course, want to do the very opposite thing. The harder their visitors find it here, the happier they’ll be. And since the East Stand is a mess at the moment, all scaffolding, plyboard and piles of breezeblocks, Jones’s work is a lot further along than the builders’. England have not lost here since he took charge, their last defeat...