London - A few days before Christmas, Eddie Jones made the 634-kilometre round trip from London to Exeter to meet Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter at the club’s Sandy Park home.
Baxter, widely regarded as the brightest young coach on these shores, was one of several notable figures in English rugby the newly-appointed Australian head coach sounded out before fixing his view on the way out of his adopted nation’s post-World Cup apocalypse.
He already had ideas, hundreds of them. But something Baxter said in the meeting resonated. England, under Stuart Lancaster, had not been nasty enough, Baxter believed.
England in the early 2000s, when they won, were feared. England, under Lancaster, were liked. That meeting with Baxter clarified a number of things in Jones’ mind and, if he had any doubts, that he must appoint serial offender Dylan Hartley as captain. It was a controversial call but Jones unlike his hugely amicable and collegiate predecessor Lancaster, doesn’t care what the media thinks of him.
Hartley’s appointment ahead of the Six Nations signalled Jones’ intent. A man banned for more than a year of his professional playing career for offences ranging from eye-gouging to headbutting was not the obvious choice to inherit the job from his predecessor Chris Robshaw. But it signalled a very clear change of direction for Jones and his men. “People respect and look up to people who win,” Hartley said in the lead-up to his side’s victory over Wales.
The implication was that no-one really cares how England’s players behave, as long as they win. Joe Marler was unquestionably fortunate to escape a ban for either of the allegations of striking or racism against Wales. He was no angel before, but was Marler’s double aberration a symptom of Jones’ influence? Probably. On the field, Jones has changed very little.
England’s lineout is tighter on Steve Borthwick’s watch, but that is largely because of Hartley’s return at hooker and George Kruis’ evolution into a potentially world-class jumper. England’s defence has been solid – bar the late meltdown against Wales – but it was by no means leaky under Lancaster, while Maro Itoje has also shown his world-class potential with a succession of magnificent performances after making his debut against Italy.
Robshaw has been retained as a player in his preferred blindside role and James Haskell has put in a typically hard-working shift out of position at No 7 as England wait for Jack Clifford to come through. Jones said: “I’d be remiss not to say that a lot of the success has got to be put down to what Stuart Lancaster did with this group of players. He should be congratulated on the job he did.” But, just as Peter Moores could only take the England cricket team so far before Australian Trevor Bayliss took them to the next level, there was a sense Lancaster had done all he could to reconnect the England team with the supporters and address serious disciplinary issues that had dogged the team. Jones has stripped back much of the pageantry and presentation, which became hallmarks of Lancaster’s reign.
The players no longer make the ceremonial walk from the coach into Twickenham in front of hordes of supporters, and many of the motivational slogans beloved by Lancaster no longer adorning the training facility at Pennyhill Park. Whereas Lancaster’s view was that winning would take care of itself if everything was in place, Jones believes that winning ensures everything else is in place. His biggest achievement has been on focusing England’s minds.
He has had them training in full match-day kit, while only staying in the luxurious Pennyhill Park facility in the week leading into a Test.
Former France fly-half Thomas Castaignede, who played under Jones at Saracens and is now a BBC television pundit, believes he knows what the secret to England’s success has been. “I thought he would be successful,” Castaignede said.
“I thought the World Cup was a big accident for England but Jones was very clever because he kept the same group of players instead of starting from scratch. He used the anger and frustration the players had and channelled it. They are quality players.
“He knows the quality of each one. He’s changed a few things but I think Lancaster did a large part of the job. Jones was there to be a psychologist, he gets in the player’s minds and has them thinking correctly. It’s what Eddie Jones does magnificently.”
Jones, conscious that England’s World Cup pool stage defeat to Wales was caused by a classic case of fuddled thinking under intense pressure, brought in a number of consultant coaches behind the scenes, including former England cricketer Jeremy Snape, now one of the world’s leading sports psychologists specialising in performing under stress. Recruiting a player of George Smith’s calibre to help improve England’s breakdown work has proved a master-stroke, with England’s players gaining a new understanding of body positioning and weight distribution over the ball from the veteran Wallaby flanker.
His insistence on picking George Ford at fly-half with Owen Farrell as second distributor at inside centre has also been welcome and long overdue. With Henry Slade returning to fitness after breaking his leg and Manu Tuilagi also back in contention, Jonathan Joseph in possession at No 13 and Elliott Daly knocking on the door, England suddenly have some depth in the midfield.
There is more to be done. Much more. England may have won their first grand slam in 13 years but there is no escaping the fact that this year’s Six Nations is well below what the Rugby Championship serves.
Daily Mail