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WHAT does Fast Eddie do next, that is the question? While it is not quite a case of ‘to be, or not to be', life must seem as flat as a week old bottle of pop after England's stuttering, error-riddled performance in the 2019 World Cup final against South Africa. To add insult to injury Jones was soon saddled with the description of becoming the first coach in World Cup history to lose two finals, with this latest reverse compounding the disappointment of losing to England as Australia coach in 2003.
No doubt if it had been put to Jones, the bite back would have been that it is two more finals than virtually every other coach on the planet.
His ability to get teams to hit the peaks – although rarely stay there – which was shown in England's ruthless semi-final victory over New Zealand a fortnight ago, just as in Japan's 2015 miracle in Brighton against South Africa, makes him a wanted man.
Rugby Australia are desperate to bring him back to coach the Wallabies following Michael Cheika's departure, and there are rumours that New Zealand are also interested in sounding him out following the tactical masterclass which saw his Red Rose outfit dethrone Steve Hansen's double world champions in Yokohama.
That sort of Antipodean love was, however, not what Jones was looking for in the aftermath of the final.
His Press conference tactics, before the England squad left Japan was to use attack as the best form of defence – in a way that his team were unable to against the Springboks.
He rounded on the British Press, reminding them that they had predicted he would be sacked if England failed to get past the quarter-final, leaving “blood on the walls at Twickenham”.
He added: “We've just taken a team that could not get out of the Pools (in 2015) to just getting beaten in a World Cup final. Yet, there is all this negativity about their performance, and I find it incredible.”
Then, in the next breath, asked to compare the 2019 Cup final defeat with that in 2003, he could not mask the bitter disappointment of finishing second again. “The medal's the same colour, mate”, Jones said.
Exactly. It is about winning World Cups, not being runners- up. Although Jones bears no responsibility for England's 2007 World Cup final defeat – apart from being a consultant coach who helped the Springboks to win it – or the debacles in 2011 and 2015, he should be able to recognise the depth of the disappointment that by 2023 in France it will be 20 years since Clive Woodward's crew beat his Wallabies to win England's only World Cup title.
In that period South Africa have won two World Cups – despite the upheavals caused by quotas and transformation politics – and New Zealand another two.
Meanwhile, England, with all their playing depth and financial resources, have drawn another blank – and now have a record of having come second in three of the four World Cup finals they have contested (1991, 2007, 2019).
”Rugby Australia are desperate to bring Eddie back to coach the Wallabies after Michael Cheika's departure”
So, if there is frustration at the nature of the loss to the Springboks, especially after sending the All Blacks packing in a campaign that promised so much, Jones is not the only one who feels it. Hundreds of thousands of Red Rose supporters are kindred spirits.
As for the immediate future, Jones has said he is not about to boomerang and return Down Under, but will instead be returning to duty at England's Penny Hill Park training base on Monday ‘ready to go' and honour his two-year contract extension until 2021.
However, the RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney, who negotiated the extension with Jones before the England squad's pre-World Cup training camp, said in Tokyo 24 hours after the final that he wants to turn it into a four-year deal to include the next World Cup in France. Sweeney, who was in ‘jam tomorrow' mode despite the comprehensive loss to South Africa, said: “I'd go along with the view that England should always be in the top two in the world.”
It's an interesting perspective from Sweeney given that England were not top of the Six Nations, let alone top two in the world, for half of the four-year cycle under Jones, with Ireland (2018) and Wales (2019) both securing Grand Slams to match the one Jones won in 2016.
The RFU's chief executive was less gung-ho when I asked him whether he felt it was acceptable for England to have a 20 year gap, or more, between World Cup titles. “It's always nice to win World Cups”, Sweeney said.
Despite being well aware of Sweeney's desire to get him to coach England through to France, it was notable that Jones gave a circumspect answer when asked whether he wanted to.
“I've only signed for two years. It's not my decision. There is a Union that gives out contracts and they decide how long the contracts are, not the coach.”
It might be wise for Sweeney to be equally circumspect and see whether Jones can rekindle the fires in this England team, and himself, by getting them to win the Six Nations first, before worrying about global domination – or four-year contracts.
