So Judgement Day has arrived for Eddie
Nick Cain charts the remarkable four-year journey of England head coach Eddie Jones
EDDIE Jones usually has a rapid response to most questions, some humorous, some perceptive, others caustic, and on occasions ill-conceived. But rarely bland.
The one sentence he repeated almost to the point of boredom, however, since he was appointed England coach in November 2015, was: “Judge me on the World Cup.” Jones was as consistent as a Bhuddist monk's mantra in saying that his mission to win the World Cup in Yokohama on November 3 would define his tenure as Red Rose coach.
Now Jones has failed to deliver on that promise, with England failing to get to grips with the predictable powerplay rugby of South Africa in a final in which they came a distant second, losing by a whopping 32-12 margin, the landscape looks a lot less rosy than it did a week ago when they sent New Zealand packing.
How the players feel about another four years of Jones as coach – or how Jones views the prospect of another four more years of them – has not yet emerged from the debris of the England squad's shattered dream of being world champions.
What is apparent is that “Fast Eddie” has, so far, not decided to stop banking his £750,000 a year salary and head for a beach in the West Indies – taking in some cricket when he has had enough of the hammock –which is what he said he would do if he failed in his quest.
When it came to explaining why his side hardly fired an attacking shot at the Springboks, with the world title at stake, Jones seemed as perplexed as the rest of us.
At the post final Press conference there was no sign of the spiky, adversarial responses that have got him into trouble over the past four years and have put multiple noses out of joint.
It was not surprising, however, that he failed to reprise the moment this week when he hit back at a comment made by his old sparring partner, Warren Gatland.
After his Wales team had been edged out by South Africa, Gatland made the observation that, “teams sometimes play their final in semi-finals and don't always turn up for a final, so it will be interesting to see how England are next week…” Jones' response in front of the Press reporters and broadcast cameras in a cavernous room at the super-sized Hilton in Tokyo's Disneyworld was mischievous and cutting.
“Send my best wishes to Warren to make sure he enjoys the third and fourth place play-off.” The reality is that neither of them will have enjoyed seeing their sides battered – in Jones' case by South Africa and Gatland's by New Zealand – but there is no denying that Gatland's comment was on the button.
There are many who believe that Jones' judgement in getting drawn into sledging jousts he was known for as a small, pugnacious hooker is flawed.
He lost a great deal of goodwill when he suggested that Johnny Sexton's parents should be concerned about his injuries when Ireland coach Joe Schmidt raised concerns about the flyhalf having whiplash injuries after being targeted by France in the 2016 Six Nations.
Eddie on Gatland: “Send my best wishes to Warren to make sure he enjoys the third and fourth place play-off.”
Jones suggested Schmidt was exaggerating: “I'd just be worried about his welfare if he's had whiplash injuries, and I'm sure his mother and father would be.” He then upset a few more peopleduring a seminar for a Japanese truck manufacturer in 2018 when he referred to the Irish as “scummy” – in the context of Ireland inflicting the sole defeat he had suffered as England coach at that point – and Wales as “this little shit place that has got three million people”.
Jones subsequently made an unreserved apology for any offence he had caused, and said there was no excuse for being derogatory.
However, where Jones' judgement has been impeccable until his dusting by South Africa has been in his ability to get England to peak at exactly the right time in Japan – and in the process prove the doubters wrong.
He has managed to get most of the right players in their best positions on the pitch, ready to come out firing in the big games.
Jones has had unparalleled resources in terms of finance and support staff – 25 at this tournament – and he has also had significantly more preparation time with his squad than any other England coach.
In the process he has buried the longheld belief that the longer the time England coaches have with their players the worse the team becomes.
There was a real worry, which I shared, that the cancellation of the France Pool match would leave England at a disadvantage going into the quarter- finals because the matches against Tonga, the USA and Argentina were inadequate preparation for the intensi- ty of knock-out rugby.
Eddie on Sexton: “I'd just be worried about his welfare if he's had whiplash injuries, and I'm sure his mother and father would be.”
In the 24 days between playing the USA and Australia, England played just the match against Argentina which is unheard of in World Cup terms .
Instead, what we saw was an England team so primed for action that it reflected a sea-change in the way Test teams prepare. It relied on getting optimum performance from the England players through specially tailored training and rest periods, with the training at warpspeed intensity rather than long flogging sessions, before tapering down.
Yet, the inevitable question after the no-show against South Africa is whether they tapered too far too soon.
One way of measuring the headway that England have made since Jones took over in 2015, is that they had only Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola as players with world-class credentials.
Before the loss to the Springboks it would have been reasonable to add Maro Itoje, Sam Underhill and Tom Curry to the list, with Manu Tuilagi, Jamie George, Mako Vunipola and Jonny May bubbling under.
Undercurry have proved to be hot stuff
Despite writing in The Rugby Paper after England's 57-15 demolition of Ireland in the warm-up match at Twickenham at the end of August that they would win the World Cup if they took that form into the tournament, I will admit to some scepticism about their chances of coming to the boil when they had to.
Hence my reluctant prediction before the tournament that it would be a New Zealand v South Africa final – although the humble pie tastes pretty good until England failed to create a clear-cut scoring chance against the Springboks That view was based on England's inconsistency over the preceding 14 months, kicking off with the summer tour defeat in South Africa, and then further reverses by New Zealand – albeit marginal – followed by Wales in the Six Nations, and a Pyrrhic draw against Scotland, before another warmup loss against Wales.
Jones also had to rebuild important parts of his squad, in terms of players and coaches, very late in the day – especially after he failed to act when the season after the 2017 Lions tour was the main watershed in which to make changes.
His decision to stick with old guard players from the 2016 Six Nations Grand Slam and whitewash tour of Australia came back to bite him as, two seasons later, they were struggling for form, That mistake was compounded by Jones experimenting with a strength sapping training camp before the 2018 Six Nations. This resulted in captain Dylan Hartley, tight-head Dan Cole, lock Joe Launchbury, flanker Chris Robshaw, scrum-half Danny Care and full-back Mike Brown, as well as the hot-cold newcomer Nathan Hughes, being badly exposed during the tournament.
Another absentee was the injury-hit James Haskell, and the slump set in.
England's fifth place finish after defeats by Scotland, France and Ireland justified why, of all of those named above, only Haskell and Cole were picked to go on the Lions tour.
Jones has said he realised in the aftermath of the 2018 Six Nations that he would have to undertake an urgent rebuild of the squad little more than 18 months before the World Cup.
This involved phasing out the veterans, including moving Farrell into place as skipper instead of Hartley, making George first-choice hooker, moving Kyle Sinckler ahead of Cole at tight-head, repositioning Elliot Daly at full-back for Brown, and starting a search for a second scrum-half after he dropped Care.
This was the only selection riddle Jones left largely unresolved before the tournament, with Willi Heinz parachuted in late on, and Ben Spencer arriving as last-minute bench cover for the final.
On the coaching front the thinking was much more joined-up. It saw Jones' fellow Aussie, Scott Wisemantel, arrive as attack coach just before the 2018 tour of South Africa, and then former New Zealand coach John Mitchell –who had cut his teeth as an England assistant under Woodward – signing on as defence coach to replace Paul Gustard.
The decision by the Harlequinsbound Gustard to cash in his chips barely a year before the World Cup caused consternation, as did the appointment of Mitchell, whose coaching approach and attitude had landed him in controversy more than once.
But the way the various parts of the Jones' jigsaw have slotted into place is remarkable. Wisemantel's innovative thinking made an instant impact in the series against South Africa with England creating acres of space to slice through for tries early on in the first two Tests before being overhauled.
Wisemantel's surfer-dude cool combined with a creative streak that Jones said in Tokyo this week makes him seem, “as mad as a cut snake”, has unquestionably given England a more varied and sharper attack. It's hallmark, at least until the Springbok shut-down, is that the backs have seen space more quickly and exploit it more ruthlessly than before.
Mitchell also made his mark quickly after being appointed in the build up to the 2018 Autumn series, restricting South Africa and New Zealand to one try each as England beat the Springboks 12-11 and lost to the All Blacks 16-15, before a looser 37-18 win over Australia.
The fruits of the Kiwi's defensive nous were also evident in blistering wins over Ireland and France at the start of the 2019 Six Nations, as well as in the first-half against Wales in Cardiff – although the second-half against Scotland certainly was not part of the script.
The idea that it was all covered by a pre-ordained Jones master-plan is hard to buy into given that result, or, for example, the head coach's reluctance to part with Hartley despite clear evidence that George was a street ahead on the pitch.
However, credit must go to Jones for practising what he preached when exhorting his squad to learn to adapt, think on their feet, and, if necessary, switch to Plan B, C or D to find a way to win. He and Mitchell, for example, ensured that the lessons against Scotland were banked – although while the investment paid off in England's almost feral defence against New Zealand in last weekend's 19-7 semifinal victory, it was much less obvious in Yokohama yesterday.
Any analysis has to take into account the problems Jones faced a year ago.
Most of his powerhouse players – Tuilagi, the Vunipola brothers, and Ben Te'o –were sidelined with injuries.
His captain, Hartley, was also increasingly hampered by injury, and his backrow was in a state of flux, especially as the two young opensides he wanted to pick, Curry and Underhill, were still green and not injury free. He also had to find a solution at No.8, where Mark Wilson was pretty much untried.
The openside saga has been the most vexed question during Jones' four-year tenure.
No sooner had he arrived at Twickenham in 2015 than he co-opted Wallaby openside legend George Smith as a consultant to assess England's talent at No.7. Having already disparaged Robshaw's openside credentials during the 2015 World Cup, Jones decided the cupboard was bare “of natural sevens”, with Smith's survey backing that up.
This resulted in him turning to his two ‘6 1/2 s' Haskell and Robshaw, on the flank during the 2016 unbeaten run.
Jones said before England beat Scotland 15-9 in his first game in charge that he did not think speed at openside was essential to beating the Scots, or winning the tournament.
He said: “If we were playing the All Blacks at Eden Park it may be a concern. Then we might have to supplement them with an openside that has got pace – but not in the Six Nations.”
Having extracted the maximum from Haskell and Robshaw he described them as “absolutely outstanding” – however, in an interview I did with him in March 2016 it became clear that Jones still hankered after a true openside.
He predicted: “Ultimately, we will need a faster backrow, but for the moment we are well served by the backrow we've got.” After England were thumped 25-13 by the Scots in 2018 when fielding a one-paced backrow of Courtney Lawes at blindside, Robshaw at openside, and Hughes at No.8, the coach realised that England's lack of dynamism at the breakdown would torpedo his World Cup ambitions.
Enter Curry, 21, and Underhill, 23, two genuine opensides. Their progress has been nothing short of phenomenal, and the pairing of them together at this tournament – especially against Australia and New Zealand – has transformed England from a good side to a potentially great one.
In just five games together – the Ireland warm-up, and the World Cup games against Tonga, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand – their dynamism at the breakdown has given England another dimension.
Having tracked their potential from over a year ago he has backed them all the way – and, as soon as they were both injury-free, he had the vision to play them as a pair.
If ‘Undercurry' are a case of ‘cometh the hour' they have not been alone. Itoje has been immense, and Tuilagi's resurrection has been perfect timing.
As for Jones it has been a bittersweat experience. Through the thick and thin of this four-year journey he said he would deliver when it mattered, and it looked as if he might manage it until South Africa spoiled the party.
The magnitude of that 20-point loss leaves the jury out on Jones. Sure, he is quick on his feet, and he is an astute selector who has made tough decisions when he had to – however, his record as a head coach in World Cup finals is that he has yet to win one.
That, combined with a good but not great record in the Six Nations, leaves Jones with room for improvement.
