Eddie will see pride is still valuable currency
EDDIE JONES is some langer. Don’t worry, it’s okay to say that. You see the word ‘langer’ (as fans of the superb ‘Young Offenders’ know) is an acceptable insult in Ireland — affectionate almost — and certainly not beyond the bounds of good behaviour in a ‘scummy’ nation such as ours.
It is about boundaries and knowing where they start and end, something Jones has a constant struggle with. Where the hell was he going with calling us ‘scummy’ and Wales a ‘s**t nation’?
In the era of the smartphone, did the Australian really think those words would not come back to haunt him? Jones was clearly going for ‘bantz’ when schmoozing a crowd of what he presumed were sycophantic corporate types last summer.
At best, his words were poorly judged and unfunny, at worst they could be considered deeply condescending and downright disrespectful — to the point where Jones’ suitability for the role of England head coach is called into question.
But how do they impact upon Ireland’s attempt to land the Grand Slam by beating England at Twickenham tomorrow? Well, on the surface, not hugely. Ireland coach Joe Schmidt and his captain-in-waiting Peter O’Mahony played the straight bat beautifully at yesterday’s press conference, putting the whole tawdry affair down to outside ‘noise’ that would not distract focus from the task-in-hand.
Yet, in seminal weeks such as these, extra motivation is never a bad thing and Jones definitely did not do Ireland’s cause any harm with his gag-gone-wrong offering. You think back to 2009 and Wales coach Warren Gatland disrespecting counterpart Declan Kidney in the build-up to Ireland’s last Grand Slam tilt in Cardiff.
The Irish players involved that day subsequently said the ‘do it for Deccie’ factor was a significant motivation behind their success that famous Saturday.
Or, on the flip side, the poorly managed observations by Irish players in the build-up to their Twickenham showdown in 2012 when England were, albeit jokingly, referred to as ‘arrogant’ and in need of ‘being taken down a peg or two’.
Ireland were beaten out the gate. They may not say it, but Ireland’s squad and management have every right to be incensed by the ‘scummy’ dismissal of their superb Grand Slam-denying win over England last year.
Factor in the preposterous assistant referee saga — where Jones thought it was perfectly okay for Marius van der Westhuizen to help prepare his team for a match he was due to officiate in — and Ireland have all the added incentive they could have wished for ahead of contest where motivation was already overflowing.
Again, while Jones defiantly defended that farce yesterday, Ireland struck the perfect note by refusing to condemn Van der Westhuizen’s role being compromised so blatantly before World Rugby stepped in and took him out of the equation.
The biggest laugh in this year’s Six Nations was the assertion in some quarters that, against the Welsh and Scots, Ireland’s endeavours were aided by bitterness at those nations’ failure to back the country’s World Cup 2023 bid.
This is different and, in a contest as close and tense as tomorrow’s promises to be, Jones’ insult and the assistant referee fiasco could provide the vital, extra edge.
Ireland are a process-driven team, a cohesive force excelling on the back of impeccable preparation by a coach who likes to leave nothing to chance. But, no matter how comprehensive the planning or forensic the systems, they count for nothing without requisite levels of heart behind them – what Australians like Jones like to refer to as ‘ticker’.
Words like ‘passion’ and ‘pride’ tend to elicit scorn from disciples of modern, scientific rugby — treated as bygones of a now irrelevant cliché-ridden era.
But in a game as physical as rugby, those qualities always carry currency, particularly for someone like O’Mahony who wears them as a badge of honour — something Reggie Corrigan was reminded of when questioning Munster’s intensity not so long ago.
For all the mercenary attempts to dilute it, international rugby is, and always should be, about patriotism above all else and Jones, in his casually condescending Aussie manner, challenged Ireland’s with those words last summer. That is not reading too much into it — that is a reflection of the forces behind what is at stake at Twickenham tomorrow.
There is no case for saying England’s players are arrogant or disrespectful, however there is hard evidence to prove their Australian coach is both. Based on their performances over the last year, Ireland had might on their side going into this match, now they have right to go with it and that is a powerful cocktail.
So thank you, Eddie. Thank you for giving Ireland the extra edge that could land the Grand Slam and spark the type of scummy party that will make us all langers.