Jones sorry for cursing and takes blame for sloppy England display
EDDIE JONES apologised for his foul-mouthed outburst during England’s 21-8 victory over Argentina on Saturday, and stressed that he will seek other ways of venting his frustration in the future after television cameras caught the head coach swearing at his team’s performance.
England got their autumn international campaign off to a winning start against the Pumas but it was far from a polished performance and, had the visitors kicked the 14 points they missed at goal, it could well have been a different story.
Jones had to face tough questions after the Twickenham encounter after a desk camera caught him shouting “F***, how f ****** stupid are we?” when Sam Underhill conceded a penalty inside his own 22. The coach also slammed his notebook down on his desk, and said afterwards that it’s fine to be frustrated during a “grindathon” game.
BLAME
He has since apologised for his actions, and took the blame for England’s below-par performance as he felt the players did a good job in putting in 100pc effort.
“I’d like to apologise for swearing in public. It’s not acceptable so I apologise for that and I’ll find a different way to express my frustration in the future,” said Jones.
“I thought our effort and application were first class. Argentina are a difficult team, but I obviously didn’t coach the team well enough,” he added.
“It’s my fault the team didn’t play well so I take full responsibility for that. I just didn’t coach them well enough.”
It is a similar admission to the one that followed the Six Nations defeat in Ireland last March that dealt Jones his first loss as England head coach, in which he took the blame for failing to prepare the team adequately for the Gram Slam attempt.
The Australian is now preparing his team for this Saturday’s visit of Australia, a team that Jones (pictured) himself used to coach, and renews a rivalry with his old adversary Michael Cheika.
However, rather than trigger the latest chapter in their war of words, Jones took the chance to praise Cheika and admit he is cautious of what the Wallabies can do as they are currently the most in-form side in the world, having beaten the All Blacks last month and seeing off Wales 29-21 at the weekend.
“Australia were beaten by 50 points in the first Bledisloe Cup game and the second one they won. They’ve really turned it around through some very good coaching,” he said. “Their selection has been good, their defence is very good, their set piece is strong.
“They’re playing some good rugby and are probably the form team in the world at the moment.”
Jones will at least be able to call on fit-again wing Jonny May after confirming that the Leicester Tigers back has fully recovered from the hamstring strain he suffered two weeks ago in a training camp in Portugal.
May’s return would allow Anthony Watson to move to full-back to deputise for Mike Brown, who was forced off early in Saturday’s encounter after landing on his head.
However, Jones confirmed that Brown has so far met the returnto-play protocols, and could yet retain his place next Saturday, with the squad set to be named by Jones on Thursday.